


The Chilling Adventures of Hesper Rosier

by Oldleatherbracelets



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018) RPF, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Comics), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bisexual Female Character, F/F, F/M, Female Friendship, Female Relationships, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Inspired by Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Lesbian Sex, Multi, Other, Reader-Insert, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:06:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 60,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29303190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oldleatherbracelets/pseuds/Oldleatherbracelets
Summary: You’re Hesper Rosier, a well studied practitioner of witchcraft and ancient ruins. You have been waiting over a century to find your soulmate. When you finally did, on an entire different continent and thanks to an improbable chance, things didn’t exactly play out the way you’d been imagining all these years. Your cosmically destined bond has been compromised by the problematic ongoings of  the Greendale coven. And, well, your own problematic history.This is the story of how you and Zelda try the very best to find content, maybe even a happy ending, and hopefully, love.It’s proving to be much more difficult than you imagined. Typical.
Relationships: Ambrose Spellman & Hilda Spellman & Sabrina Spellman & Zelda Spellman, Faustus Blackwood & Zelda Spellman, Faustus Blackwood/Reader, Faustus Blackwood/Zelda Spellman, Hilda Spellman & Zelda Spellman, Sabrina Spellman & Zelda Spellman, Zelda Spellman & Vinegar Tom, Zelda Spellman/Original Female Character(s), Zelda Spellman/Reader, Zelda Spellman/You, Zelda/You
Comments: 46
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> More chapters to come <3

Sabrina could remember the very first time she saw her Aunt Zelda’s soulmate mark. She was six years old, it was summertime. Aunt Hilda, who always had the _best_ ideas, suggested that the family have a picnic outside that day _(“It is so nice out after all!”)._ With Sabrina’s bubbling excitement and some light persuasion from Aunt Hilda, the two were able to convince the more pessimistically inclined of the household to join. 

This wasn’t out of the ordinary. It was, in fact, quite unremarkable. Despite that, aunt Hilda was right. The outdoors were quiet and lazy that day, with a few puffy clouds in the floating in the sky. And if you squinted hard enough, you could see the ducks down the hill swimming in the pond. 

The group of witches had just finished eating. Aunt Hilda was packing up the food, Ambrose was reading some new book (he’d just finished his last one), and Sabrina was taking in the world around her. 

The tiny blonde girl was intently watching the long trail of ants marching across the gingham blanket, trying her very best to count them as they passed. She wondered, perplexed, how such tiny creatures could carry such large crumbs. 

As per usual when Sabrina had a burning question, she whipped around to interrogate her Auntie Zee. However, this time when she opened her mouth, she paused. 

Auntie Zee was sitting contently on the blanket with her eyes gently closed, breathing in the fresh air with one big expansion of her lungs. Slowly, the witch reached up both her arms to adjust the big woven sun hat atop her perfectly styled curls. 

What caught Sabrina’s eye was not the surprisingly relaxed demeanor of her Aunt Zee, but the small angry scar on the underside of her Aunt's upper arm. She’d never seen it before, but she never really saw her Auntie Zee in a sundress either. And now, Sabrina had a new question.

“What’s that on your arm Auntie Zee?” 

The woman in question’s eyes snapped open, arms still poised above her head. After a moment, she looked down at the exposed skin there and was met with a rather unhappy reminder. The witch pulled her pale arms down at once. For some reason, Sabrina could have sworn her Auntie Zee looked embarrassed that she had brought the ouchie up. Angry even.

“Now Sabrina, you shouldn’t point out things like that to-“ her Auntie Hilda began to reprimanded her.

It seemed as though Sabrina had caused a scene. Even Cousin Ambrose took his nose out of his book to look up tight-lipped.

“No, Hilda. It’s okay.” Her Auntie Zee interrupted. Her features schooled back into the face she made whenever she explained something to Sabrina. 

The witch took a deep breath.

“Some witches are born with witches marks, and some witches are born with names instead.” 

Sabrina inched closer to her Auntie Zee and sat down on her knees so that she could listen better.

“Why names?” The young girl questioned.

“Some witches have the name of their... soulmate. It’s widely considered a gift. I happen to be one of those witches with this supposed gift.”

“Soulmates! Like a Princess? Like a true love? Auntie Zee are you going to be a princess and fall in love? And why does it look like yours hurts?” 

Sabrina’s exuberant excitement and curiosity did the exact opposite as it normally did. 

Instead of the in-depth explanation she normally got, Auntie Zee looked... sad all of the sudden. 

“No Sabrina. I’m not going to fall in love.” The discussion ended there.

————————————

You did not particularly wish to pay a visit to the coven of Greendale. Generally speaking, you kept to yourself. But when an old friend begs you to make the trip, and you haven’t seen him in eighty years, you go.

You were consciously ignoring the fact that the friendly invitation became an official summoning once Ambrose drug the High Priest into it. _The prick._

In the last letter you received, Ambrose had begged you to pay a visit to the academy he was working at now that he was off house arrest. And it just so happened that in order to do so, he had to talk you up to the Director of the Academy, Faustus Blackwood. 

So here you were, Hesper Rosier, scholar of ancient ruins, descendent of the Amazonian witches and _private_ practitioner, patiently awaiting the audience with his Unholiness just so that you could see that son of a bitch. 

You really had missed him, but you honestly were confused that Ambrose hadn’t greeted you himself instead of that student they sent.

When you arrived, a young warlock- Melvin? Marvin?- greeted you and escorted you to what appeared to be Director Blackwood’s office. You sat in an old chair, at least a thousand years old, that was expertly preserved with a stasis charm. You drummed your fingers on the solid wood desk in front of you as your eyes drifted up to look at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. 

Tik tik tik tik 

The clock struck two, and sounded throughout the room like a welcome cure to the absolute silence. The noise, though, was not so helpful in the fact that it awoke the hedge demon trapped in an intricate sphere in front of you, inscribed all over with long lost ruins. 

The trap rattled angrily. You quickly threw your hands onto it, your rings clanging against it’s hard shell. The lace bell sleeves of your shirt cloaked the glow of the orb ominously as you whispered a sleeping spell. The sphere fell silent once more. 

You had brought it along as a gift for Father Blackwood so that he could use the usually harmless demon for educational purposes. Or maybe he would have other plans for the mischievous little devil, not that you would care. Point was that you needed to make a good impression on the man.

It was an obscure gift but it came with a good story. You had trapped it back in France on the Vosges Mountains. Never thought it would come in handy until now.

The memories filled you with regretful nostalgia. Slowly your mind drifted back to that point in time when you traveled all over to uncover lost cities and magical artifacts. You’d stopped all that though and focused more on the tame research now. 

Just as your thoughts got carried away to Latin scripts of resurrection and Egyptian tombs, the door behind you slowly creaked open. You moved to stand and the chair screeched in protest. Once upright, you adjusted your skirt hugging your waist and spun around. 

To your utmost surprise, Instead of the High Priest you were expecting, you saw a woman. 

She was beautiful. 

Time seemed to slow down. You felt your eyes widen as you gazed at her. The practiced amiable smile on your lips faded restfully to slightly parted. You felt a funny feeling in your gut start forming and your chest gave an unexpected flutter. Suddenly you became aware of everything around you. The warm fire, which seemed to send the witch’s red hair alight, felt very inviting. You found yourself able to look at her from head to toe, fascinated with every detail. Her heels, her floral dress, her aristocratic face, perfect makeup and dark gray eyes. The whole time you were taking her in, you yourself felt set alight also. Drawn to her entire being, to her mind. You wondered at last, even though you’d surely find out soon, who she was.

_She’s her. You know she’s her. Zelda._

Your mind was racing, your heart was beating fast, and that funny feeling from before had transfigured into a raging hurricane of butterflies. No focusing charm could’ve helped you find your words in that moment. 

All you could say was “Hi.” Breathlessness took all your air. It was like you whispered a secret.

_‘Hi’? Really Hesper? You’re a grown woman and that’s the best you could do? She’s going to think you are ridiculous._

Then the strangest thing happened. 

Or didn’t happen, you supposed.

Despite your wonderment to her, she looked completely disenchanted. Unchanged. As if nothing had happened on her end at all. 

Time resumed, all the while the burning on your shoulder blade steadily persisted. 

“Praise Satan.” She greeted in a clearly ingenuine chipper tone. “My husband, the Interim Antipope, is very busy right now but he will be with you shortly. As you are a honored guest of the Academy of Unseen Arts, he has sent me to make you feel more comfortable.”

_No fucking way._

“Your husband is Faustus Blackwood?”

“But of course. It’s actually a week to the day that we’ve been wedded in unholy matrimony.” 

Deep down you felt an unbidden pang of overwhelming sadness.   
  


_She’s married. How is it that she is married? And a week before you met her._

“Now tell me, how do you take your tea? Sugar?”

This whole situation is very, very strange, too. She doesn’t care about you at all. You were her soulmate. Her witch. 

“Umm, yeah. Please.”

She busied herself with the tea. You felt crushed by this revelation. No matter how much you fought it. No matter how much you tried to remain rational, it just didn’t feel _right._

You’d been told before, soulmates don’t always last. There’s not a guarantee, despite what the name suggests.

You can’t hold the life she chose against her.

Then, out of the corner of your eye, you saw the witch make a superfluous gesture while pouring the tea from high above the tea cup. She dropped a sugar cube daintily into the cup, and turned to you with a big, forced smile. 

You stared back, absolutely perplexed. 

There’s no way this is right. No matter how hot your soulmate mark burned, maybe it was just _wrong_. 

“Sorry, but I don’t think I caught your name.” You mentioned, trying to sound polite.

She handed you your cup of tea.

“You may call me Lady Blackwood, Sister Rosier.” 

Not exactly what you were looking for.

“Zelda Blackwood is your full name though, correct?”

“Actually, my full name is Zelda Spellman Blackwood. But like I said, you can call-“

“Yes, of course. Lady Blackwood.” You dismissed distractedly. Your mind was racing again. 

_Spellman. Another Spellman._

“You’re related to Ambrose Spellman then? He’s who I’m here to visit as well as the High Priest, as you probably know.”

“Yes, Ambrose is my nephew. He lived with us while on house arrest. It’s a shame-“

Before she could finish her sentence, the doors behind you two swung open once more. You saw who you could only assume was Faustus Blackwood and moved to stand. 

He strutted over to you, as if he were sizing you up, even though you were just as tall as him. He paused for a moment and took in your whole being. He seemed... pleased? 

“Interim Anti-Pope Faustus Blackwood, Sister Rosier.” The warlock grabbed your hand and placed a gentle kiss on your knuckles.

You weren’t particularly surprised by his behavior. You tended to have the effect on men. And there was a flirtatious glint in his eyes that did not refute that.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, your Unholy Imminence. I hope the new responsibilities have not been too trying for you. I was unaware of the tragic death of the Antipope until today. I suppose traveling does make it difficult to gather the news. However, I do have a gift for you.”

You moved to grab the intricate trap beside you, and presented it to the severe man with a smile. He eyed it skeptically. You noticed out of the corner of your eye, that ‘Lady Blackwood’ was standing properly behind her husband, waiting to speak until spoken to. 

“It’s a hedge demon I trapped in the mountains of Vosges when I spent time in France. The trap itself is over two thousand years old. I figured you could use it for educational purposes. Hedge demons are not very dangerous compared to other demons and they are moderately-.”

Blackwood cut you short.

“-Difficult to banish or trap. Yes, I see you are as learned as Ambrose implored. Tell me, did you keep in contact with Ambrose after his plot to destroy the Vatican?”

That question surprised you. It seemingly came out of nowhere. You straightened your shoulders, uncertain how to proceed.

_Honestly is the best policy._

“No, your Unholy eminence. I cut ties with Ambrose after his crimes. However, being that his punishment was relinquished by you yourself, I figured he had atoned and saw it fit to pay a visit.”

Blackwood placed the ancient box back on the desk and moved to sit in his particularly grand chair. It was like a throne to him.

“I take it then, that you are unaware that he murdered the previous Antipope just over a week ago. He is imprisoned here at the Academy and will face execution. Tomorrow.”

You tried to keep your composure as shock washed over you. How did Ambrose always get so deep into trouble? And what did this mean for you? You couldn’t even speak to your only friend here, most likely. 

_If you want to stay here, you’re going to have to play your cards right._

“No, your Unholy Imminence. I must say I didn’t have the slightest inkling of these ongoings.”

“And what do you make of Ambrose Spellman now, Sister Rosier?” A test. And a chance. Confidence filled your lungs as you tried to make a smart move. 

“I never doubt the destructive abilities of those around me, your Unholy Imminence. And I would not dare to question your _supreme judgement_.”

You whispered the last two words like a blessing, trying your best to flatter his clearly inflated ego, and leaned forward slowly. It seemed as though it worked. The warlock looked utterly gratified with himself.

He leaned forward too, mirroring you perfectly. You smirked at this. 

He lowered his voice.

“Tell me, Hesper Rosier, is it true that to make love to an Amazonian witch, such as the witches you descent from, will lead to astonishing climaxes and cosmic epiphanies?” He got up from his throne, and slowly began circling you like some sort of prey. “Some say it’s like no other pleasure on Earth.”

He rounded the counter of his large desk. Taking the only semblance of barrier between you and this salacious man. You let it happen. 

You needed him to want you. At least for the time being. It was a means of self-preservation.

“Well, your Unholy Immanence, while I do not particularly embrace that part of my heritage, what you say is true. Amazonian witches were hunted down for centuries by rampant lust-filled warlocks to be enslaved and raped. History however shows that their strength and aggression never allowed for this.” 

You tried your best to make your voice sound husky as you spoke. Blackwood placed two paws on your shoulders.

“Very interesting, Sister Rosier. I myself have been looking for an epiphany to guide me since becoming Antipope.” 

He leaned over you and breathed you in at the crook of your neck. You felt him slide his hands further down your arms. His wife, _your soulmate,_ was in the room and this lecherous man had the audacity to invade you so? The misogynism was almost laughable. And ‘Lady Blackwood’ just let it happen, not a movement of distress at the scene in front of her. It made your stomach roll, despite your initial intentions in leading him on.

“Your wife is very beautiful, Antipope Blackwood.” You spoke up and glanced at her. She was indeed, even as she busied herself straightening up the office. As if she were under a spell. 

His caresses paused only for a moment, then resumed. His hand found a way to your thigh.

“Sister Rosier,” he whispered in your ear, “Do not fret. If it pleases you so, she may join us.” You immediately got shivers down your spine at the idea, and your eyes fluttered shut unbidden. Faustus Blackwood saw this as nothing but an invitation. He kissed your neck with greedy lips.

Suddenly doors opened once more. You were grateful in every manner when Blackwood pulled away to address the young witch that had entered. As much as you the idea of this man displeased you, the idea of Zelda between you two made you desperate. 

Blackwood and the young witch had a quick exchange, and the Warlock moved to follow her out, seemingly for something urgent. 

“Sister Rosier.” He addressed you before leaving. You snapped out of your trance and turned to look at him. 

“My wife will show you to your chambers. Try to stay out of trouble, there is too much of that already in this academy. We will discuss your stay here in more depth after the execution.” 

He left without another word. You were once more in the office with ‘Lady Blackwood’, hot and breathless with lust still. 

“Shall I escort you to your chambers then, Sister Rosier?” She spoke, soft and sing-songish. It sounded wrong, somehow. 

You didn’t respond for a moment. You were still trying to wrap your head around everything that had happened. 

_You met your soulmate._

_She’s married._

_She doesn’t seem to recognize you._

_Her husband wants to have a threesome with you._

_The antipope is dead._

_Ambrose is charged with his murder. And now Ambrose is going to die._

_You were completely alone here, but you couldn’t just leave now._

_What were you going to do?_

You took in a deep breath and fought your own rigidity.

“Please.”

———————————— 

You figured the best course of action was to try and get some more details from ‘Lady Blackwood’.

So as she walked you idly to your chambers, you tried your best to start conversation. And as it always did, your straightforward nature took over.

“How do you feel about your nephew’s execution, Lady Blackwood? I’d imagine it to be quite hard.” 

Maybe she would be more real in private.

“My nephew Ambrose was a fine young lad. It’s troubling to hear that he’s taken such a disturbing turn.” 

Not exactly the answer you were hoping for. Why was she so... _detached?_

“So you believe that he deserves execution? Your own nephew?” 

“My husband knows best in these matters. He is the Antipope, after all.” 

_What the heaven was wrong with her?_

There’s no way this witch, your soulmate, isn’t under some sort of enchantment. Something to make her behave this way. She was completely submissive. Dismissive. Insipid. Any normal human has more emotional depth than this mere shell.

“Do you have any other family, Lady Blackwood? On your Spellman side?”

“Yes, Sister Rosier. My sister Hilda and Niece should be here right now. They live at our estate in Greendale. That reminds me! I must prepare for the council’s arrival!” 

The council is coming. They must be discussing Ambrose, you reasoned. ‘Lady Blackwood’ was a whole other issue. An issue that you definitely needed the help of her family to get to the bottom of. 

Time to begin the search. Hopefully you’d come across them soon enough. 

“Of course, Lady Blackwood. Well if you’ll excuse me, I can get settled in by myself and I’m very tired at the moment. I shall speak with you later, give your husband my best.” You hurried in the chambers and shut the door in her face. It didn’t take a second for you to hear the sound of heels walking away.

————————————

You’d given up trying to locate any of the Spellmans, including Ambrose, about an hour into your search. Sabrina and Ambrose were both apparently within the Academy walls, but you’d gone on a bloody wild goose hunt looking for them. 

What you did discover however, was a _wonderful_ place called Dorian’s, where you were currently nursing your third glass of scotch in resigned defeat. And you could tell, because you knew yourself far too well, that you were mere minutes away from spilling your guts to the handsome bartender across from you. 

But that didn’t happen. You heard something instead. Behind you.

“Please just try your best Nick. We have to find him or saving Ambrose is a lost cause.”

_Saving Ambrose? Who would-_

“I’ll try Sabrina. I promise.”

_Sabrina. Oh thank Satan!_

“Sabrina?” You spoke up, after the boy she was with left. 

“Yeah? Who are you?” She eyed you suspiciously, quickly realizing you heard their entire conversation.

You quickly got up, and guided her quietly over to somewhere more private. To be safe, you quickly murmured a silencing charm around you two.

She looked positively alarmed.

“Don’t worry, Sabrina. I’m Hesper Rosier. I’m a friend of Ambrose’s. I was supposed to come to the Academy to visit. But it appears I have impeccable timing.” You have the girl a friendly smile. Trying to calm her nerves.It didn’t work. You let out a defeated breath.   
“I want to help.” 

The fire cracked quietly in the background. 

“How do I know you aren’t lying? That you're not working for Blackwood?” She questioned tersely. 

You winced. Shit. 

“Unfortunately, that is an issue. I can’t stay here at the Academy unless Blackwood permits me too. So I do need to stay on his good side. But I promise-“

You crossed your heart with one hand, and held the other one out so she knew you weren’t lying. 

“-I’m the last person who wants to see Ambrose killed. I’ve known him for ages. Before the Vatican, even. And... I need your help too. It’s about your Aunt Zelda.” 

Your promise seemed to calm her nerves some. And she indicated for you to go on.

“I was hoping to talk to Ambrose about it first but... your Aunt is my soulmate, and I think something’s wrong with her. Like very wrong.” 

She was quiet for a moment, waiting for you to take it back like it was a joke. You bit your lip, embarrassed. 

“You're joking, right.” She was incredulous.

“No, I’m definitely not. I just met her today. In Blackwood’s office. Look. On my shoulder blade.” You turned around and moved your long brown hair out of the way to expose the skin left bare by your shoulderless top. There it could be seen, very clearly. 

_Zelda_.

“You’re _not_ joking.” She whispered. Astonished. 

After a beat she continued, “...and my Aunt Zelda just married Blackwood.” 

You turned back around and nodded sadly. 

“And the only person who could help you before was Ambrose. And he’s in prison.” 

You nodded sadly again. The girl was smart, finally putting the pieces together. You could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. She took a deep breath. 

“Okay. Okay. First we need Nick to find Leviathan. He’s Ambrose’s familiar who Blackwood used to control Ambrose to kill the Antipope.” She filled in and continued.

“It’s also a long story, but Blackwood is definitely not someone to mess with right now. Once we do that, I can take you back to our place in Greendale to Aunt Hilda and we can figure out what to do about Auntie Zee.” 

You smiled at her and nodded.

_Finally. A plan. All with the help of some liquor._

————————

Sabrina, by some miracle, had brought a familiar back from the dead. How? You had no explanation. But you weren’t going to ask questions right now. 

Sabrina and you arrived at Spellman Mortuary, where you could finally sort some things out. After she secured the mouse familiar, she led you through the house. It was, by the way, seemingly riddled with magical charms and wards. The indoor garden you two arrived at was astonishing. You hadn't seen such impressive herbs in years. 

“Good news, Aunt Hilda, we found Leviathan.” Sabrina announced to her aunt, who was tending to her root of dittany. 

“You did? I thought he was dead! And who is this?”

“This is Hesper Rosier. She was supposed to be visiting Ambrose, but obviously she can’t now. So she’s helping.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you!” You spoke up from behind Sabrina and gave a smile and a small wave. Hilda was about to acknowledge you, Sabrina, ever the boaster you gathered, kept going. 

“-As for Leviathan, we found his corpse in a dumpster. But I resurrected him, and now he’ll be able to testify.” Sabrina stated proudly. The look on Hilda’s face was anything but impressed. The elder witch was definitely concerned. Apparently, Sabrina is performing magic that would send the cosmic out of balance, but you had bigger issues to worry about than that. So, you continued looking around the luscious garden while Sabrina got thoroughly scolded.

You were admiring Hilda’s hygrandigons, trying your best not to eavesdrop on the two witches' very loud conversation, when you hear a door creak open and shut somewhere in the old house.

You paused and looked up. 

“And, oh, ooh, I forgot. Healing the blind!...” The girls Aunt shouted, exasperated, continuing down a long string of strongly worded motherly advice.

“Ladies.” You said, trying not to interrupt. They didn’t hear you.

“Hilda, Sabrina-“ 

Sabrina was hearing none of what her Aunt Hilda had to say. The argument was heated. You were definitely intruding at this point.

“Or I can use them to save the coven from father Black-“  
  


“I think there is someone in the house!” you finally spoke up. They both turned to look at you. Energies were high. 

“Who?” They exclaimed at the send time.

“I don’t know! I heard the front door open. Is anyone else supposed to be here?”

“No, there’s not. Aunt Hilda?” 

“Search the house. Now.  
  


Suddenly you heard squeaking and bones crunching. “What’s that sound?” You said, stopping in your tracks. 

“It’s coming from the kitchen.” 

When you all rounded the corner, you all found ‘Lady Blackwood’ there, grinding poor Leviathan to a pulp. It was actually quite sickening. You started to feel the scotch churn in your gut.

“Aunt Zelda, stop! What are you doing?” Sabrina shouted, mortified. You covered your mouth with your hand. The witch smiled, looking for the world like she was the perfect housewife, doing her daily duties.

“Ladies, one simply must not keep a mouse in the house.” She gave the meat grinder two more cranks. “Whatever were you thinking?” 

“Oh, Aunt Zelda, what are you-“ The youngest witch cried.

“Oh, Sabrina, Sabrina-“ Hilda pulled her niece back to her. You stepped into the circle to hear what they had to say. “- it’s a Caligari spell, I think.”

Things started to make sense to you all at once. Zelda was in a trance. 

“It’s like an old spell warlocks used to use on their wives when they got a bit uppity. It turns them into somnambulists.” 

“Like a sleepwalker.” You commented.

“He’ll be controlling her with that damn music box.”

“What music box?” You asked.

“It’s in her chambers at the academy.” Hilda muttered. All the while Zelda was still cleaning up the remains of that poor mouse. 

“Well, if we can get it and dismantle the spell then she may recognize me as her soulmate, Sabrina.” 

Sabrina nodded in acknowledgment.

“Wait, wait. You’re Zelda’s soulmate?” Hilda looked at you, absolutely aghast. “Why- Oh Satan, erm, that is one big develop-“ 

“Aunt Hilda! Focus. Describe the box to me.” 

And the plump blonde witch did, all the while cleaning up the mess Zelda had made. And suddenly, out of thin air, Sabrina had the cursed object. 

You stood there feet planted on the floor, trying your best to understand how she did that. But settled for just not understanding.

“Let me see the box.” You stated, while Zelda went off to fetch some squeezed lime for the defiled counter space. You were beginning to feel butterflies in your stomach once more. 

_If this works then… things may be right, finally._

“If this is what I’m used to seeing then there should be some binding object-“ you dug through the beautifully embellished box a little and found a small picture of Zelda in a silver frame buried all the way at the bottom. 

“-right here!” You let out a triumphant laugh. “I think that should break the enchantment”. And with that you smashed the beautiful picture of Zelda on the thoroughly abused counter. 

Against your better judgement, because you knew you were being a creep by doing so, you stuffed the photograph into your pocket. After one or two off-key notes, the music stopped. You all went deathly silent, praying that what you did worked.

“Satan in Hell, what am I wearing?” The red haired witch exclaimed. You felt a smile form on your face as your heart lightened. She sounded _better_. 

Then she looked from her sister, to her niece, to you. And stopped. 

“Oh heavens, it’s you.” She blurted out. Then, almost immediately, she let out a gasp of pain. Her left hand shot up to grip her upper arm desperately. Your smile fell and you took a few cautionary steps forward, hands outreached. 

The pain did not relent for her. 

“She’s going to faint.” You prophesied, as if you had some premonition. 

And then she did. You felt your stomach drop as her eyes rolled back into her head. She was halfway to the floor when you sent a spell to keep her from thumping to the ground. 

————————————


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re Hesper Rosier, a well studied practitioner of witchcraft and ancient ruins. You have been waiting over a century to find your soulmate. When you finally did, on an entire different continent and thanks to an improbable chance, things didn’t exactly play out the way you’d been imagining all these years. Your cosmically destined bond has been compromised by the problematic ongoings of the Greendale coven. And, well, your own problematic history.  
> This is the story of how you and Zelda try the very best to find content, maybe even a happy ending, and hopefully, love.  
> It’s proving to be much more difficult than you imagined. Typical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapters to come <3

You, Hilda, and Sabrina carefully moved Zelda to the couch in the dim sitting room. The air was stagnant. No new energies, no liveliness, no warmth. You glanced around. It didn't seem like the room was normally so dry. The antique furniture and the now crackling fire would surely create a cozy feeling in the house, but not tonight. You were all shaken. Hilda sent Sabrina to grab some cold water, a rag and herbs to help awaken and soothe the unconscious witch. Hilda was fretfully adjusting Zelda's pillow when you spoke up. 

“Hilda, will you please what really happened? I know there’s something you're keeping from me.” You implored, wide eyed, waiting for an answer.

She turned around to look at you. She was clearly nervous. Whatever secrets she was keeping needed to surface. Now. You could practically see her sweating as she wrung her hands together. 

“Umm- Oh dear. Okay.” She swallowed, and turned to look at you head on. You were desperate for some answers. The implications of Zelda’s reaction were... troubling. 

“Please, Hilda.” the desperation within you was slipping out in your voice.

“Zelda, she’s always been... impatient.” She finally began after a pregnant pause. “It’s really not my place to tell, but on her fiftieth birthday, she got tired of waiting for her soulmate- you- to show. Normally soulmates find each other early on, you see. In fact, there’s not a single case of soulmates having to wait more than, I don’t know, thirty years. So, I promised her that we’d try to locate you with a spell. When we tried, there wasn’t a trace of you.”

“How can that be?”

“Well, love, you probably weren’t born yet. I mean look at you. Have you even passed your first century?” 

You frowned. “I’m 120.”   
You weren’t sure exactly how old Zelda was. She was older than you. It was certainly possible for a at least a fifty year age difference, not that you’d care in any other situation.

“Well, in any case, we couldn’t find you. And Zelda, ever the possessive type, figured you’d ran off with someone else and that you’d severed the bond.” 

“I would never even consider doing something like that.” 

Hilda looked even more uncomfortable at your proclamation. You were quite certain that if she crumpled in on herself a little more, she’d probably explode.

“Well, Zelda did consider it. I fact... she did it.” 

Your mind came to a rearing halt. 

“She did _what_?” You felt your blood rising as you clenched your firsts and rounded on Hilda, daring her to say the words you never wanted to hear. 

“She severed the bond.” Your chest felt a great heaving pain. “She- she took a knife through her mark. I found her sobbing on the bathroom floor, a complete mess. I couldn’t have stopped her.” 

Terrible flashes flooded your mind. Unwelcomed images of Zelda covered in her own blood, mascara running down her face, shaking uncontrollably. You didn’t know why they were so very vivid, but they were. Your head whipped around to where Zelda was sleeping soundly on the couch. Angry tears brimming at your eyes. You wanted to scream. You felt a wave of energy rush through your being. Immediately, every single candle in the room set alight furiously.   
  


You weren’t angry at her. You could never be angry at her. You were angry at the world for playing such a sick game with you. With Zelda.

_But Zelda must resent you for all forcing her hand like that, too. In her own way._

_What if she never forgives you? The amount of hurt she must’ve felt to give up on you. Completely. It was gut-wrenching to think about._

Watching her, eyes closed in sweet tranquility, you couldn’t be angry anymore. You just felt exhausted. More exhausted than you’d felt in months. You felt as if every speck of energy vanquished from within you, all except the energy you had for her. The candles simmered out just as quickly as they lit.

So, you straightened up and turned back to Hilda. Your eyes though, still seemed to be rather dangerous. 

“Is there anything we can do? The bond is still not completely severed. Surely there’s still a chance.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t read much into soulmates. We never- we never even thought something like this was a possibility.” 

Sabrina walked in then, hands full with supplies to tend to her aunt. She was clearly curious about what the two grown witches were speaking of. She knew something was delicate about this situation, though, so she kept her mouth shut. You liked the girl.

Hilda looked at you with sympathetic eyes and placed one hand on your arm, trying to sooth your own pain. Surprisingly, it worked. You felt the tension leave your body at her touch. 

“Perhaps you should step out, Hesper, just while we’re waking Zelda up. We’ll sort this out, don't you worry. Why don’t you go have a look in our library while you're at it, hmm?” 

———————————— 

You did find a book on magical bonds in the Spellman’s library, not that you were surprised. They seemed to have a copy of every magical book for the last ten centuries at least. But you were too afraid to open it. You were scared of the answers you might find.

You were scared there was actually no chance for you and her.

Instead, you sat on your ass outside of sight in the hallway leading to the sitting room, praying to Satan that what had happened to Zelda was a one time deal. Hoping with all the might you had that maybe she had just been overwhelmed.

Instead of searching for answers, you listened to Zelda speak to her family about her time under Blackwood spell, about how she would fight for Ambrose and keep the charade up. You were warmed by her caring but firm warnings to Sabrina. And finally, she spoke about _you_.

“So what are you going to do about Hesper, Aunt Zee?” 

Your ears perked up, and you leaned ever closer to the wooden door frame to hear better. You felt like you had just asked your first crush to the dance all over again, and you were waiting for their answer. 

“I’m not sure.” She said. “I gave up on ever meeting my soulmate long ago. But, I’m sure that whatever damage I have done to my mark can be fixed should I allow it too. Bonds such as these have a way of healing themselves.”

“Then why do you think you fainted?”

“Well, I was utterly surprised to see her standing there, to be completely honest. Perhaps the Caligari spell strained the bond and it whiplashed back into place once it was removed. Not to mention the trauma I’ve already inflicted onto the mark.” 

“Hesper seemed to think the bond wasn’t completely broken.” Hilda reminded them.

“It’s doubtful, unless of course Hesper decides to sever her bond as well. I wouldn’t be surprised, after everything I’ve put her through.” 

“I seriously doubt that Zelds. She was absolutely hellbent on getting you back to normal.” Hilda let out a giggle. You heard Sabrina join in. 

“Oh hush.” Zelda warned lightheartedly, like a schoolgirl. You felt ten times lighter. “Where is she anyways, Hilda? I should have a word with her. I’m afraid I need to apologize for some things.” 

You heard Hilda give an answer and then a pair of high heels clomping your way. 

_She wants to speak with you._

_Oh the gates of hell are opening up._

You made a move to stand upright, to keep Zelda from catching you on your ass. But when you turned towards the doorway, someone smacked right into you and the book that was secured tightly in your arms thudded to the floor. You hardly noticed. Surprised, you reached out to steady the figure in front of you who was, at this point, rather pressed up against you. 

_‘As she should be.’_ Spoke a voice from deep down. 

“Unholy hell.” The woman, the most perfect woman you’d ever seen, exclaimed as the scene unfolded. It was like music to your ears. You didn’t have the mental capacity to say a word. You were far too subconsciously elated.

“I didn’t-“ she cleared her voice as she steadied her gaze up at you. You were a few inches taller than her, and you weren’t even in heels. You did, after all, have Amazonian blood.

“I didn’t... see you there.” 

You looked back at her, gray eyes meeting your big hazel ones. She looked absolutely bewitched by you. She looked how she should’ve this morning.   
  


_Remember this. That picture in your pocket does no justice to this._

“No, it’s okay. It was my fault.” You said kindly. 

It was at this moment that you realized you still had your strong hands wrapped tightly around her arms. Slowly, you let go. You both took a step back then, so that maybe you wouldn’t be so ‘inappropriately’ close. But you kept your eyes trained on her face. 

“You dropped your book, Hesper.” Her voice broke the silence as well as your trance. Then the witch bent down to pick it up for you. You were more focused on the breathy way she spoke your name, though. When she handed it to you, upright once more, your hands brushed. You felt amour hairs stand on end. 

“Oh. Yes, thank you.” You said finally. ”How are you feeling, Zelda?” You prayed that you had the same effect on her. You hoped she was as drawn to you as you felt.

“Better. Much better. I feel like myself again, although, that’s not saying much.”

You smiled at that. You could see her watching you do so, a glint in her eye. 

_She’s funny._

“I do think, though, that I have some explaining to do, before we get back to the academy. Can we go somewhere more private?” She asked, her expression changing to be more grievous. That expression suited her too.

“Of course. In fact, I’m quite sure Sabrina and Hilda have been eavesdropping on this entire conversation.” You said jokingly. You thought it was quite humorous. Zelda, however, whipped around to send a scowl back into the sitting room before turning once more to you. You could only imagine being the victim of a scowl like that.

“Shall we?”

Zelda led you to the back porch of the manor where everlasting candles were already lit. It wasn’t overly cold outside, but you were thankful for your jacket. You wanted to give yours to her, but you decided against it. She seemed to welcomely breathe in the crisp air. The view from the deck was fantastic. You could see the stars and the moon from where you stood on the old wooden planks.

Zelda didn’t speak for a moment. It seemed as though she were working herself up to do so. You let her take her time.

“Hilda told me that she caught you up on my... wrongdoings. My impatience. My lack of faith in soulmates... and in you.” Her voice was strained as she spoke. And quiet. Like she couldn’t bear to think about it. But alas, she took a deep breath and kept going. 

_‘She’s strong.’_ You thought hummingly.

_You like that._

“So, I want to apologize.” She stated firmly. Decidedly. You didn’t think she needed to apologize for anything, but you were still happy she did. It was very thoughtful of her, and she didn’t seem like the kind to apologize for nothing.   
“I should never have tried to sever the bond all those years ago. I should never have married that horrid man, either.” She began pacing beside you. Arms folded and her head to the sky. It was natural, as if she’d done this a thousand times- vented to you. 

“And now-“ her voice broke a little. You frowned and turned away from the sky in front of you to look at her. 

_She stood out compared to the sky, greatly. You always loved the sky._

Your first instinct was to tell her not to cry, but somewhere in the back of your mind you knew that would only make it worse for her.

_She didn’t need consultation. She needed to say her piece._

“... now I feel guilty... because things for us will be harder. The bond won’t grow as strong or as fast. And our relationship will be... complicated.” She ended finally, defeated. You could physically see the heaviness on her shoulders leaving her.

_The words she speaks mean a lot to her. Always._

_She’s a lot like you in that way._

You knew what you wanted to say. But in the time you’d figured it out, standing there on the back porch of this big old house, Zelda was trying desperately to light a new cigarette, and was failing. Her hands were shaking too much. So, you reached yours to still them, acting on an instinct. It must’ve surprised her, though, because she let out an imperceptible gasp when you did so. She looked right at you then. Right into your eyes. They looked golden in this light. 

Her pupils were blown wide. You figured yours were too. You could feel her pulse flutter under your gentle grasp. You plucked the lighter from her hands, and as if she knew what you were asking of her, she delicately put the cig between her lips. You lit the end in one easy movement. 

She took in one deep drag as you handed the lighter back to her. You wondered briefly, why she didn’t just use magic to light the damned thing. It’s probably some preference of hers. You got the impression she was very traditional.

“And they say chivalry is dead.” She murmured, puffing out the smoke. You cracked a smirk at that.

“Who said that? A man?” You quipped back. 

Then she smiled. She smiled at your joke. You wanted to make her smile a thousand times more. After a beat, you decided to speak again.

“I already forgave you, Zelda.”

She looked genuinely surprised at your words.

_As if you could hold anything against her._

You continued.

“Mistakes happen. But, even so, I’m willing to go through hard times with you, if I have too.” 

This time it seemed _you_ had stunned her into silence. But not in a bad way, somehow. It was a rewarding turn of events. Especially when your mind momentarily flooded with thoughts of all your mistakes, too.

You let her finish her cigarette while you stood quietly by her side. “We should head back to the academy soon.” You spoke. 

She nodded and turned to leave with you, but her steps faltered. 

“I will still have to play the part of a bidding wife. You know that, don’t you?” 

“I figured. If we are to save your troublesome nephew, we’ll all have roles to play.”

————————————

The next time you saw Zelda was when Faustus Blackwood summoned you the next morning. He wanted to speak with you about the terms of your stay at the academy. You played your part well. You offered to give a few lectures to the students about your research on ancient ruins and scriptures. 

Blackwood also seemed insistent in being overtly suggestive with you, and if it’s even possible, even more handsy. This time, unlike the last time you stood in that office, Zelda _did_ seem to notice. It was the only time you saw her break the character of a happy bidding wife.

You knew you could handle a man like Faustus, so you let it happen, fed into it even. Partly, also, to see how possessive the witch really was, even against your better judgment. Blackwood had grabbed you from behind and placed a tight grip on your waist. You saw Zelda pause in her tea making. And when he kissed your neck, even more sumptuously than before, she fumbled terribly with the tea cups. 

“Your Unholy immanence.” You spoke loudly when his movements did not relent. You pulled away from him.“I think that’s far enough for this early in the morning.” You breathed out.

“A witch such as yourself has such feeble time based morals?” He almost looked offended for a moment, and you couldn’t have that if you wanted to stick around to save Ambrose from his grasp.

So, you took a step towards him, and slowly wrapped your arms around his shoulders. 

“We can continue this later, Antipope Blackwood.” You stated. Then you leaned in even further, and whispered just loud enough so that Zelda could hear, “And when we do, I want your pretty wife there too. Understood?” Your eyes locked with hers as you made the demand. You hoped though, that neither of you would be pushed to do such a thing. And with that you walked out of the office. 

————————————

You had been rather pleased with yourself when you left Blackwoods office. You’d bought yourself more time with Blackwood, you’d gotten a chance to mold the young witches and warlocks of the future, and you’d had a little fun doing it. 

Zelda however, was not pleased. At all.

She’d come after you once you’d exited and led you down some abandoned hallway deep within the Academy. You swore the pictures’ eyes were following you. You hadn’t seen an original enchanted painting like that in ages. 

Suddenly she stopped walking. You nearly ran right into her before she whirled around to you. You placed your hands on your hips and stood up straight, steadying your gazed down at her. Something told you that this woman preyed on weakness when angered, so you tried to not show it.

“What in Satan's name do you think you're doing?” She hissed. “Do you think that playing into Faustus’s hand like that is some sly witch’s trick? You're doing exactly what he wants.” She was seething. And it was scary. Almost in a good way, especially with such tight quarters.

“I was buying myself more time. If I didn’t, I’d be cast out before noon, no doubt. I have nothing else Faustus wants.” 

She barked out a sarcastic laugh. “You should take that and leave the first chance you get. There’s no reason for you to be tangled up in this mess at all, worst of all with Faustus.” 

You sighed, “Do you honestly think Faustus is looking for more than a shag?” You shifted your weight onto one hip, and took one step closer to the venomous witch in front of you.

“I _know_ that he craves power. He sinks his claws into people and uses them. Honestly, Hesper, you’d be much safer at the mortuary.” Either she was trying to protect you or she was possessive over you already, which were both great things. The thing is, you would not leave her or Ambrose or even Sabrina in this Academy by themselves, either. So it was going to be tough shit.

You were staying. 

“I’m not going to leave you all here. I said I was going to help so I’m going to help.” 

“Help how? By sleeping with that self-unrighteous prick?” Her words were terse, but it wasn’t like you weren’t used to that kind of tough love. In fact, you found her words quite inspirational.

She’d given you an idea. You could tell she saw your face light up, a question forming on her hardened face.

“That’s actually not such a bad idea, if we play our cards right.” You smirked. 

“What ludicrous idea do you have forming in your head? I’ve honestly had enough scheming for one day.” 

You smiled mischievously.

“Well, I have an idea, but I’ll have to explain it later. I need to do some research first. But I think I can give Faustus and epiphany, just maybe not the one he is looking for.” 

————————————-

Saving Ambrose from execution had been a complete success. Sabrina continued to amaze you with her seemingly atavistic abilities. Despite this, you couldn’t celebrate just yet. While your old friend was free, safe and sound at the mortuary, Zelda was still in danger. 

You needed to find a way to get her out of that wretched man's grasp. Preferably sooner rather later than later. 

You’d found out from the gossiping students at the Academy breakfast. Apparently, Interim Antipope Blackwood’s position was demoted back to High Priest Blackwood. You’d thought that was good news, the less power he had the better, but now the delusional man was diverging from the Churches of Darkness. 

_‘The church of Judas.’ How absolutely idiotic. When has rampant reform and suppression ever gone badly?_

Well, you had a few options. Option one was to do nothing. Wait it out, and eventually the pillars of society that hold up all groups would crumble under Blackwood’s subjugation. The other option was to eliminate the source of such turbulence. Save the coven. Save Zelda. After your trip to the Academy’s impressive library and pouring over various dreaming spells and potions for hours, you finally found what you were looking for: A way to give Blackwood an epiphany, a dream if you will, that you wanted him to see. It was rather simple too. But you’d need help. 

In particular, help from Zelda.

Unfortunately, you soon realized she hardly strayed from Blackwood's side, so you couldn’t contact her without _someone_ noticing. Luckily, you did have some more archaic methods up your sleeve. You had a familiar, a Great Dane to be exact, that would serve duly as a carrier pigeon. And while rather large, you had faith in Gus to handle the mission with the utmost discreteness.   
  


You’d explained to him, very clearly, to _‘Just find Zelda alone, and give her the note. Don’t be seen. I know you can do this.’_

So, now you were waiting anxiously for the witch to make her appearance in the same corridor that you two had spoken in yesterday. In hand, you had a page ripped from a book with a method powerful enough to fill any warlock’s head with seductive lies, false dreams, and paranoia. It was not _her_ that you saw turning the corner of the dimly lit corridor, though, but Gus, barreling toward you with intent, note still in mouth. 

You’d never seen him move so fast. 

“What? What’s wrong, Gus?”

He let out a quick, loud boof in response. 

When you didn’t seem to get the memo, he let out another. Familiars were sometimes funny about soulmates. Gus knew that something had happened, probably with Zelda. 

“What? Where is she?” Gus took off down the hall, in a direction you had never been. But, sure enough, you ran after him. Breathing hard, not from the exertion but your own panic setting in. Soon you arrived far below the Academy, in the dungeons. Gus stopped and sat right outside a door locked from the outside. 

“Oh, Gus, you absolute Devilsend. What would I do without you.” You whispered to him, quickly assessing the door. There was a latch, but when you reached out your hand and grasped your long fingers around the cool metal, it burned. You let out a hiss at the pain, and recoiled your injured palm back to be cradled by the other.

“Zelda? Are you okay in there?” You spoke clearly. You didn’t hear a response. Either the room had a silencing charm placed on it, or Zelda was unconscious. Neither was good.

“Okay. Okay.” You grumbled, wracking your brain for a spell strong enough to bust the solid cobalt hinges. “Tospringe et.” The command was powerful coming from you. The door shook violently for a moment, but it did not open. 

“That won’t work, sister.” You heard a young woman’s voice speak from behind you. You paused, staying exactly where you were with your hands in the air.

“You need the hand of a coven member to open that door.” She spoke. You slowly turned around to look at her. She was the young witch you saw in Blackwoods office on your first day. She looked you up and down. You tried your best to keep your face unreadable. Gus growled from behind you. This only made the witch smirk harder.

“Who are you?” You asked.

“Oh, Sister Rosier, I’m Prudence. And I’ll open the door for you, free Lady Blackwood like you want. But I am curious, why? Why does she matter to _you_ so much?”

You swallowed at the question. You supposed there wasn’t much harm in giving her a truthful answer. You weren’t planning on sticking around so why not reveal your loyalty?

“Zelda is a friend. And I’m sick of my friends being locked in cells. Now, please, unlock the door.” 

The answer must’ve been satisfactory, because she did just that. You stood side by side at the entrance of the cell and felt the cold air of the desolate room hit you. Desolate all except for her. She was sitting quietly in the chair. Her eyes swept across you two in surprise. You felt a wave of relief seeing her there, unharmed. 

Prudence spoke immediately. 

“Sister Zelda, you have to hurry.” She whispered urgently.

“Prudence. Hesper. What are you both doing?” She questioned. Probably more surprised to see you both together than anything. 

“We’re setting you free. We’re leaving. Now.” You replied. Zelda stood up immediately, and took in your face for a moment, before turning to Prudence. 

The younger witch saw this as her chance to say her piece. “You were right about my father.” She sounded defeated.

“Hideous, isn’t he?” The elder witch spat and then continued out towards the beautiful exit. You followed her. But then she turned around and looked to Prudence once more. You watched as Zelda, normally exuding austereness, asked Prudence to come along. It lightened your heart to see her do such a thing. To see her look out for others and act on her emotions. 

But Prudence couldn’t leave. Much like you couldn’t leave the Spellmans there at Blackwood’s mercy, she couldn’t leave her sisters. Someone had to protect the coven, _that_ you all knew. 

“Prudence.” You spoke, and reached into your pocket, pulling out the page you stole.

“Take this. It’s a simple but ancient potion I was planning to give to Father Blackwood. It will have him dream and believe of any lie you whisper in his ear. You can use it to give him an epiphany. One that will keep him away from this place forever.” You explained. Then on a second thought, you ran a hand through your thick brown hair, gathering loose strands as you did so. 

“And take my hair. Tell him it’s mine. Place them in his tea with the potion. He will bother the coven no more. Do you understand?” Prudence nodded urgently, looking into your eyes for reassurance. And so you and Zelda rushed out, Gus at your heels, back to the Mortuary.

“You came for me.” Zelda pointed out, as you took the last step to reach the train tracks. 

“Of course I did.” As if it was obvious to you. It came so easy to you. This whole thing, between you two. The ease was one sided, you felt. No matter how much you recognized it had only been a few days, you knew Zelda was holding back. You knew she was unsteady around you.

You’d thought your answer had been enough, but her eyebrows were knitted together still when you spirited away to the front yard of the Spellman Mortuary, as if she still had something to say. As if saying what she thought didn’t come easy to her like it did you. And you knew that wasn’t normal for her, deep down. You knew that she’d been in relationships before. She was a dominant and powerful witch. But it still seemed like she struggled with _this._

You studied the way her face changed. The way she looked in the night’s light, lips tightly pulled in a small frown. By the way she was taking you in, you knew she was studying you too. You decided you had to get the conversation rolling.

“It feels like you don’t have very high expectations of me, Zelda.” You began. “And I know this situation has been complicated for us. It’s not _easy_. I just need to know you want this.” 

That seemed to rouse a response out of her.

“Of course I want this.” She barked. Then her features softened. You were getting very tired of seeing remorse etched on her face. “I just feel guilty still. And you are so wonderfully loyal.” _As if that was a bad thing._ “So, It can be demeaning when I feel as though I’ll never match that.” 

The admission, although troubling, was exactly what you were looking for. She needed to say what she actually felt.

you thought for a moment, trying to choose your words wisely.

“You don’t need to think too hard about what we owe to each other, Zelda. If we want this-” you gestured between you two, “We must give into it. Forget about the rough beginnings so that we can have what we both want.” 

Zelda listened carefully to what you were saying, drinking in every thoughtful word. You could see the sweet relief rinse away her worries. Her shoulders slumped a little, her face relaxed, and the glint in her eyes returned. The breeze suddenly brushed past you and played prettily with your hair. And then, you felt the barrier break. Literally. She took another step towards you, the wood of the porch creaked, and another step, until your toes were touching and you were forced to breath the same air.

“And what is it that we both want?” She whispered, voice thick and low. You could feel her hot breath on your face. You felt your hair stand on end.

You felt your stomach do flip as her sly hands slid up your front. So slowly they moved, fingers teasing at the buttons of your blouse, until settling firmly on your heart. Your eyes fluttered closed and your right hand moved found it’s place settled at her waist. Her hand delicately pulled you closer at your collar. 

Your lips were barely touching. The tiniest inkling of your soft pink lips touched her thin layer of lipstick when the front door clamored open loudly. Your eyes shot open and you pulled away to see the cause of the interruption. 

“For hell’s sake” you heard her mumble.

“Zelda? Is that you?” Hilda questioned, peeking her head out from the wooden door. 

“Oh- Erm. Sorry, did I interrupt something? I was just surprised you were back, is all.” She asked

You were very flustered to see the witch’s sister staring at you two so close. But Zelda, forever attuned to the situation, righted herself within a moment.

“Yes, Hilda, I’m back. And I need to speak with you. Now. We have to summon the council.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapters to come <3

Six months ago, you were living in France with your boyfriend, Lyall. He knew that you had a soulmate, he knew that you’d leave him at the drop of a hat when _Zelda_ finally showed up, but he stayed with you anyways. For years.

You never understood why. You never loved him like he loved you.

You always wondered when he would pack his bags and leave without saying goodbye. Then, he finally did.

You couldn’t say you were surprised. You two had grown apart after you all took a trip to the Grecian ruins. Lyall had gone off alone, looking for some long lost mortal scroll you had no interest in, and when he returned he admitted that he hadn’t found it. He was so distant after that. He had so much pent up aggression. You could see it in the way he held himself. Other times, you would find him crying at his desk in the middle of the night. He would refuse to speak to you about it. Unbeknownst to you, he _had_ found the scroll. You didn’t know this until nine weeks ago, when Lyall returned to you.

He was bleeding and battered. His breathing had been shallow. It seemed as if he had used the last of his energy to get back to you, to drag himself up the steps of your front porch, and knock weakly three times. When you opened the door, he was slumped over, eyes closed, and clutching something as if his life depended on it.

“Lyall?” You gasped and flew to him. You thudded onto your knees, your palms cupped his face. 

“Lyall, what in Satan’s name happened to you?” You rushed out, panicking.The warlock’s lolled to the side.

“Lyall!” 

A mumble came from him and his eyes drew open weakly. You gripped his face tighter.

_He had always been so handsome. You never thought you’d see him like this, on the brink of death._

“The box.” He gurgled, blood clogging this throat. You looked to his arms. Within them he held a small wooden chest.

“The box… it is for you.” He was so weak. You could see the life slipping from him.

“What do you mean?” You were crying now. Your voice was breaking. 

_Where did he go? What was he doing back here? What happened to him?_

Your thoughts were all jumbled together.

“The map- you are destined-” he coughed. Blood spurted out of his mouth onto your face, “-to have this box.” 

“I don’t understand.” You whispered helplessly.

“Keep it safe…” he rasped, “Please.”   
  


Lyall died in your arms just about six months ago. He died holding a box that he said was destined for you. You cried over his body. You cried until you knew you had to move him. You had to lay him down, so that rigor mortis didn’t leave him slumped over. When you did, you laid him down flat, very gently, sniffling with every breath. 

You removed the box from his grasp and placed his limp arms down gently. When you did so, you found the scroll. It was supposed to be thousands of years old. But it had a stasis charm placed on it. A historically mortal scroll scroll with a stasis charm placed on it.

_Peculiar._

But you hardly had the energy to think about the oddity of it all at the time. You removed the scroll that was tucked into his pants at the belt, where he kept all important things, and set it next to the box. 

Today, you opened the scroll for the first time.

You had been unpacking your things to finally settle into your room at the Mortuary. You’d almost forgotten about it amidst all the excitement since you’d been here. You didn’t find anything you were particularly excited to see. In fact, what you saw made your stomach drop and your brain rattle with questions.

It was prophetic in structure, with traditional indicators of future tense. And below that, there was a map. It was written in Hellenic, but the Grecian letters were completely jumbled. You couldn’t make sense of a single line of it. And when you tried your best, your eyes went cross like there was some spell on the scripture.

_Had Lyall cracked the code? Had he simply followed the map blindly?_

_What answers could this thing give you?_

Well, if you were going to figure that out, you’d need help. Help from Ambrose. Everyone in the house, however, had a lot on their plate, it seemed. 

The Spellmans, you found, had a particular knack for drama. Sabrina seemed, quite exceptionally, you may add, drawn to action. This fact was quite contrasting to what you had grown accustomed to back in France (for the last couple of your years), where you lived a quiet life performing tame research with your partner.

Yesterday, you all had trapped Satan himself in a young warlock’s body and saved the entire coven from being poisoned. Today, you finally had time to settle down into the Spellman’s manor. 

Zelda, graciously enough, had made up the only available guest bedroom in the estate for you. She even permitted you to redecorate it as you pleased. You obliged happily, completely ignoring the fact that she was still happily sleeping in her sister’s room. All the while trying to be content in a house with an entire coven and a pair of twin babies living in it. 

_In short, there was no privacy in this house._

As for Zelda, you knew she had an awful lot going on. Housing thirty young witches until further notice would surely be a large task. And, it seemed, she was head of the coven by default. 

_So much for an uncomplicated relationship._

You didn’t want to force things, _but you_ two _were_ moving miraculously slowly for soulmates. Most of the pairs consummated the bond within twelve hours. In reality though, you two hadn’t found enough time for conversation about something other than avoiding execution, overthrowing the coven or the actual realms of hell.

And, yes, you did believe all the action had brought about a sort of trust between you two. So maybe that _was_ exactly like you two needed. Zelda _had_ severed the bond, so it had to repair itself before she could feel its full effects towards you. 

Most everything would be clouded with remorse until then. However, you also knew, from your early morning tea chat with Hilda today, that her sister was a… sexual being (not Hilda’s own words, mind you, but you surmised). And apparently her relationship with Faustus Blackwood, and many other previous lovers, had been strictly karmic. And apart from discovering that Hilda was a major gossip, you also learned that Hilda found Zelda’s behavior uncharacteristically timid. Although not a romantic, in Hilda’s opinion, Zelda was normally quite forward. 

And you did see that side of her once or twice. You figured you just needed to let everything roll on naturally. So, instead of forcing your soulmate to do something she didn’t want to, you started going through the many mementos that you kept around. 

This directly led you to your new task: the scroll.

“Ambrose?” You called through the open door of his bedroom and knocked on the door frame. He looked up, his big brown eyes finding you. You smiled at him. 

“Hesper. Settling in okay?” He motioned for you to come in.

“Yeah, I am. Thanks. But I was going through some of my stuff and found this scroll from Ancient Greece. I was wondering if you could help me decipher it.” 

“I’d be happy too, but what is so special about it?” 

You didn’t particularly want to go into details about this. “Someone important to me… died… with it on them. I want to know why.” He frowned and nodded. He took the scroll and set it down on his desk.

A moment passed.

“Prudence told me what you did for her and the coven. You're the reason Blackwood won’t come back here and her siblings are safe from him.”

“No, Prudence is the one who sent him away. She deserves the credit. With any luck the effects of the potion won’t wear off for a very long time.”

“You really think he’ll just be meditating in the mountains until he wastes away?”   
  


You shrugged. “Hopefully.” He smirked at your words. 

“So…” he began, “how are things with _my_ _Auntie_?”, with a teasing smile, putting particular emphasis on the last two words.You laughed and covered your face in your hands.

“Oh Ambrose! I’m so sorry if this is weird for you.”   
  


“No, no, it’s okay. I’m just messing with you like old times, eh?” 

You let your hands fall. He continued.  
“But really, is it going okay between you two? I know my Aunt Zelda can be… difficult.” 

“You honestly want to know, huh?” He nodded. He was a good friend. He always treated you so well before, too. “Well, obviously things haven’t been very calm in the last week. But I still haven’t been able to crack her open, even after all we’ve been through.” You admitted.

“I can’t say I’m surprised. She has an uncommonly hard shell. But I’m sure you’ll get to her eventually. You know, you should go check on her. I think she’s in the study right now.” He offered.

Zelda had been running around trying to keep this place from falling apart all day. That’s why she wasn’t at breakfast, you assumed. For the record, you didn’t think Zelda was that hard to pin down. Her ways seemed quite uncomplicated in your opinion. Still, maybe Ambrose had at least one good idea.

“That’s not such a bad idea, Ambrose..” And with that, you left the scroll with him, hoping that he could get a head start on it, and headed down the hallway to the study. Once there, you knocked twice, firmly.   
  


“For the love of Satan.” You heard an annoyed grumble from within the room, and then more loudly, “Come in.” 

The door creaked open, magically of course, and you walked in slowly.   
  


“Oh, Hesper. I thought you were one of those life-sucking teenage witches coming to bother me. This is a much more pleasant surprise, I assure you.” She was leaning back in the desk chair, hair a little more frazzled than you’d ever seen it and cigarette in hand. 

You smiled at her. “You weren’t at breakfast, so I thought I’d come check on you.” You explained as the door shut behind you. 

“Yes, well someone has to keep this place running.” Trail of smoke delicately puffed out between her lips as she spoke. She looked positively elegant sitting there with her legs crossed and hand poised to hold the smoke.

You took a few steps in, looking around as you did so. “Trying to catch a break from it all, are we?” You questioned, eyes roaming all over before landing on her figure. Once you made it to her side of the desk, you perched yourself in front of her by leaning against the edge, hands coming to support yourself behind you. 

She hummed a responded, drinking you in as she took another drag of her cigarette. You smirked. “This week has been rather stressful hasn’t it? I can barely catch you alone.” You stated, as if it were an offhanded observation. 

At your comment, she uncrossed her legs and stood up. Then, while stubbing her cig out in the ashtray that was sitting on the desk she leaned close to you. Slowly her hands snaked around your waist, which was cinched right now by a belt and a pair of high waisted trousers. Her fingers fiddled with the belt loops in the back.

“We’re alone now.” She murmured. You could smell her light perfume mingling with the smell of smoke. It was intoxicating. You leaned closer to her, your bodies turning so that one of your hands had her trapped at the desk while the other made its way to her neck.

“Lucky us.” You whispered, your lips stopping just short of hers. 

Zelda was the one to close the gap between you. Her lips seemed to fit perfectly to yours. You didn’t feel crazy sparks, but a deep seated warmness at her touch. The way she held you, the way you both kissed with just enough pressure, just enough passion, made you weak in the knees. You let out a small moan and leaned against her for support, pressing her against the desk. The hand that was propping you up on the desk moved to cup her face, dragging up her side as you did so. The kiss deepened then, Zelda’s hand moved up to comb her manicured nails through your thick hair, sending shivers down your neck. She breathed in through her nose so as to not break the kiss and began teasing your bottom lip seductively with the tip of her tongue. 

Startlingly, something yanked your hair. You let out a yelp and jumped away, which only made it pull more. 

“Ow! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow-“ you winced.

“Hesper! Stop moving.” Zelda's voice commanded and you listened obediently. “My ring got stuck in your hair. Sit down, I’ll get it out.” 

You did so, letting out a breathy laugh before quipping, “Got a little carried away there didn’t you, Zelda?”

“Oh hush. There are two guilty parties here.” She murmured with a small smile playing on her swollen lips. 

She yanked some hair in a fight to free the jewelry. You hissed. “I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of hair pulling.” 

“Pity.” She replied and you grinned at her suggestiveness.

“Got it.” She held the ring between her fingers, regarding it with a sour look on her face. You caught a glance at it. It was gold, with a big black diamond embedded into it.

“Is that your wedding ring?” 

“ _Was_ my wedding ring, yes. I hadn’t taken the graced thing off until now.” She frowned, and moved to sit on the arm of the chair you sat in, bringing the ring down so you both could consider it. 

“What should we do with it? Throw it in the lake? incinerate it?” Your suggestions were solid.

She hummed in thought.

“I say we feed it to your familiar and let it pass through to the form it was destined to be.” She turned to gage your reaction. 

The corner of your lip turned up.

“I think that would be entirely appropriate.” And then you carefully grabbed her free hand, her left one, and turned it palm up to plant a delicate kiss there. 

————————————

The scroll was giving both you and Ambrose a very hard time. You two had stayed up far too late that night pouring over it. It was one in the morning when Ambrose suggested an arithmetic method for the third time.

“No, Ambrose. We went over this. It can’t be arithmetic because in the fifth line there is no discernible pattern.”

You replied sleepily. He let out an irritated grumble. “Maybe we should call it a night. My mind is getting jumbled.” You yawned out the last part. 

He yawned in reply. “Good idea.” And so, you got up from your place and sleepily shuffled out of Ambrose's bedroom. When you looked downstairs, you could see a dim light coming from the kitchen. Curious, and rather parched, you took the flight of stairs all the way to the first floor. You tried your best not to let the stairs creak as you did so.

When you arrived, you found none other than Zelda. That was a surprise. Drinking alone in the kitchen was usually not a good sign. 

“What are you still doing awake?” You questioned, walking over and leaning against the island counter in front of her. 

She watched you as you walked, eyes trailing after you. “I could ask you the same.” 

“Well, unlike you I’m assuming, I have a very suitable answer. I was working with Ambrose to decipher a scroll.” 

She made an impressed face, but judging by the liquor in her hand, it was not entirely genuine. “How very dedicated you are, Hesper.” She commented, a little sarcastically. You didn’t let your feelings get hurt by such a little thing. 

You shrugged. “I suppose. But, some may call it obsessive. Drowning yourself in your work to fill a hole is not exactly a great coping mechanism.” 

She scoffed. She must’ve known that you were also referencing her recent behavior. Anyone who had gone through what she had these last couple weeks would certainly need to process. To cope. And she hadn’t, as far as you could tell. She just kept on moving forward, like any good leader would. But, after all, everyone's process is different. 

“You are far more cunning than you come off as.” 

You smiled a little at that. “Would you care to pour me a glass?” You asked, gesturing to the amber liquid. 

“It’s scotch.” She warned, not sure if you would want some of the smoky, biting liquid.

“That’s perfect.” You replied. The witch looked impressed again at your answer, this time genuinely, and moved to grab you a glass out of the cupboard. You watched her as she turned around, reaching up to grab the tumbler. Her thin white blouse stretched against her skin as she did so. When she handed you the glass, your fingers brushed, and you took a long deep sip of the beverage. It was very smooth, and very smoky. 

You settle against the counter once more, arms crossing and resting them against your torso, drink in hand. You steadied your gaze at the woman in front of you. She was gracefully aged, respectable, amusing, and occasionally tender. You realized in that moment, seemingly out of nowhere, that you would trust her with your life, and you hadn’t known her but a small fraction of it. 

She made you feel so very content, standing there in front of you. Deep in your gut, your heart, your mind, you’d never feel so at peace. Especially, you found, in quiet moments like this.

“You didn’t answer my question.” You reminded her. “What are you doing up?” 

She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. She looked at you then, as if she were deciding if she should trust you with the truth or not. 

After a moment of considering you standing there, tall, beautiful, open to her, she let trust win. 

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping ever since the Caligari spell was placed on me.” She admitted and tried to gage your reaction. You knew that if you let your concern show, she would think you were making a big deal out of nothing. So, you kept your role as a confidant unbreakable.

She continued. “Sleeping reminds me much of the sleepwalking trance I was in.” 

You frowned then. She gave you her trust, so you would confide in her too.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I haven’t been sleeping like the dead either. I… lost someone close to me, just over six months ago.” You kept your voice strong, but Zelda could tell that it pained you to say it out loud. You couldn’t even look at her, and instead trained your eyes on the space between you. 

“I’m sorry for your loss.” She said with earnesty, but wagered it was better not to dig further into the subject. 

You let out a breath and looked up to her, putting on a less grim face. “Having someone to talk to does help, though.” You offered with a small smile. “And scotch.” You added as an afterthought, raising your glass a little. She smirked at that. 

The silence that followed was comfortable enough, at least for you. You’d happily bask in Zelda’s presence for eternity. She made you feel intensely content, as if the sky could be falling and you would be just fine. As for Zelda, you could practically hear her thoughts clanking around in her head. You watched her from across the vast space in between the island and the counter. Her brow was furrowed, her lips drawn into her typical frown, but her eyes were far, far away. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Her attention snapped to you, like she didn’t realize she’d zoned out. That was very atypical behavior for the witch, at least in the time you knew her. Her frown became even more pronounced, searching your beautiful eyes once more for trust. She found it again. Her posture relaxed and you watched her own gray orbs roll up to the sky before setting offside to stare out the dark kitchen window. She let out a breath. 

“When I was under the Calgiri spell, I did have sex with him, Faustus, during the honeymoon. My body was willing, but _I_ didn’t want to. And, well, it was violating when I think about it now.” She was calm. Reflectful even. Not shaken or gutted, but coldly regarding one more strike (a rather large strike, you might add) to add to the tally of hideous things Faustus Blackwood had done. 

It took you a minute to piece together what she was saying. The implications of it, even if she wasn’t admitting it to herself, she was admitting it to you. You felt your blood start to boil at the idea of that wretched man. 

“Zelda… what he did was awful. That’s- that’s rape. Even if he didn’t do anything particularly nasty on the surface, he knew what he was doing to _you.”_ You set your glass down on the counter and forced yourself into her line of sight. You needed to see her, you needed to make sure she wasn’t going to break down or bury the trauma deep down.

“I didn’t realize it until I was imprisoned in the Witch’s cell, but yes, he did. And now that I’ve said it out loud.. I do feel better, actually… you are right.” 

“Are you okay? Well- not okay obviously- but are you processing it well?”

She hummed a little. “I think that I am. He’s gone, thanks to you. I just couldn't name it out loud until now, until we talked. It’s one more reason Faustus Blackwood deserves to burn in the pits of hell.” Her tone wasn’t light, it wasn’t cold or angry either. She was resigned, but not in defeat. It was confusing to you, honestly, but you’d never been through that. Very few people have ever been through what Zelda experienced. 

_She was like the end of a thunderstorm._

You tried to mimic her small smile, but failed. Your face was wobbly and etched with underlying emotions. The urge to wrap her in your arms and squeeze her feelings out of her was strong. Zelda’s reassuring words only went so far to calm your concern for her. But, you had to trust her words. She was an adult, she was intelligent, and she confided what she needed in you. That was enough, you supposed. 

Another, more juvenile part of you, wished you’d been more harsh with Blackwood now, when searching for spells to get rid of him. This part of you felt completely warranted. You wished you _had_ sent him to the deepest part of hell. You wished that you could blast him off the face of the planet. You'd've done that for her, if you could go back. 

But you couldn’t. 

A clock sounded, alerting you of the time. It resided in the den, but the chiming carried easily in the silent house. Two in the morning was far too late for any reasonable person to be up.

“It’s getting late. You’re okay to go to bed, aren’t you? If not, we can chat more.” You didn’t want to force Zelda to bed, not after the conversation you just had with her. You’d be there for her if she needed you. If she even wanted that. 

“No, no, I’ll be fine. We should get some sleep. For whatever reason, those blessed teenagers will be up at the crack of dawn, no doubt.” 

You let out a genuine chuckle at her show of distaste for them, even though she clearly cared for every member of the coven. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be staying in her home. 

You raise your glass to her after a moment, “May we finally get some sleep tonight.” you said with valor. You then finished the drink she poured for you in one swig. Zelda followed your example. You set the glass down on the counter and stood up from your leaning position. 

“Shall we?” You asked. She nodded. You reached to grab her hand to give it a loving squeeze before placing the two tumblers in the sink. 

You two arrived at the top of the stairs, a few paces away from her room that she shared with her sister. Within, you heard nothing but the soft snores of Hilda. You grabbed her hand again then, stopping her so she wouldn’t go, and pulled her back to you. You pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth before whispering a gentle, “Goodnight.”

She sighed softly as you did so, her eyes fluttering close. You let go of her hand and moved to pull away, ready to head down the hallway in the opposite direction. But she stopped you. She pulled you close once more. You felt a hand brush your cheek before tucking a stray strand of your deep brown hair behind your ear. There was nowhere else to look but into her eyes.

_They’re said to be the window to the soul. you never believed that saying until now._

“It seems silly for me to sleep in there, when I could sleep with you instead.” She purred out. 

A large part of you wanted to jump at the idea. But the other, more logical part of you knew that Zelda had more to drink than you. You had no idea how long she was down there in the kitchen before you showed. And you had know idea if she was truly as stable as she was letting on. You didn’t want her to do something that she didn’t think through.

But, there was _another_ part of you that saw the way she was looking at you now. Sincere. Blithe. Maybe she was just lonely, like everyone else. Maybe she just needed some comfort so she could _sleep_. 

The idea was harmless. 

“You can sleep with me, if you want.” You whispered. 

_Just sleep. That was completely acceptable._

You two arrived at your room at the end of the hall. Inside, Gus was sleeping soundly at the foot of the bed, like always. Zelda said she was perfectly okay with that. She’d had a dog before, Vinnie T, just not quite so big. 

You never wore anything fancy to bed. In fact, you were quite embarrassed to be changing into your cotton shorts and old shirt. You picked out the softest and newest shirt you had out of your drawer.

“Do you want this to sleep in?” You turned around and offered it to her. She looked at you with an expression you hadn’t seen before on her perfect face: was it adoration? Pity? Surprise? You couldn’t place it. 

Suddenly, you felt even more embarrassed. It was as if you were a little kid who didn’t know what you were doing but was desperately trying to impress some adult. 

_What had she been expecting? You two couldn’t sleep naked and you weren’t about to make her sleep in a pencil skirt and blouse._

Zelda, glowing in the low light of your bedroom, took the shirt from your hand with a small smile of thanks. She then began to skillfully unbutton her translucent blouse, leaving the flightful glances of her black brassiere for your eyes to catch.

You turned around immediately, and got to work shuffling through the shirts of your drawer distractedly. You huffed to yourself at your own absurdity and settled for the faded red one at the top of the pile. You pulled off your thinly knitted sweater over your toned shoulders and threw on the comfortable tee. For a fleetinging moment, you felt your soulmate mark thrum when her eyes surely made contact with it.

You could feel her admiring gaze drifting over you from time to time as you pulled up your soft shorts. When you were done you turned to see her partially covered in your simple article of clothing. She looked more human than you’d ever seen her then. The shirt was one you’d gotten from a small mortal shop in Armenia. It barely grazed the tops of her thighs. You breathed out a haughty apology for not having anything nicer. She didn’t seem to care, and instead busied herself with taking out her earrings. 

You climbed into the bed and pulled out the covers from under Gus’s form. He grumbled out a growl as you did so. You told him to stop being such a sissy. You saw Zelda’s lip quirk up at that. 

Once situated, you magically turned off the lights in the room, and laid down facing her. The only light in the room came from the moonbeams shining in from the window.

You were going to whisper something to her. ‘ _Goodnight.’ ‘Sleep well.’ Or at the foreground of your mind, ‘I would do anything for you.’_ But you didn’t.

She was already asleep. She’d fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. 

You let out a small sigh at that and let your eyes close too. 

—————————————

When Zelda woke up, it wasn't to the sound of crying babies or clamoring teenagers, but bright beams of sunlight hitting her face. She winced and immediately knew she was not ready for the day without even opening her eyes.

Despite how well she could handle her liquor, she normally could feel the effects of it the next morning. She wasn’t one hundred anymore, after all.

After a moment of adjusting to consciousness, a thought floated into her mind. The thought mentioned the strangeness of the sun awakening her, because it never did before. And then, the strangeness that she slept in so late at all. 

Still half dreaming, she moved to stretch, and stopped all movement immediately. Suddenly, she was _very_ aware that there was _someone_ else in the bed. And she had her hand up their shirt, her body pressed up against them, her legs tangled with theirs. 

She was unable to recall where she was and who she was with. She was afraid to open her eyes and find out. Mentally cursing her wretched brain for being unable to clearly recall who she was with and why she was in their bed, she forced them open to the blinding light. When she did, she saw a tangled mess of brown hair and long limbs. 

She was fully clothed in your bed. 

_That, at least, was somewhat of a relief, despite how intimate it was. How innocent._

She wanted to scoff at her own uncharacteristically mushy behavior.

Suddenly, the events of last night came rushing back to her memory. Zelda had practically forced you to let her sleep with you, then she’d fallen asleep, in her opinion, embarrassingly quick. Then, she surmised, her sleep deprived body had grossly overslept. The only blessing in this situation was that you must’ve been far more sleep deprived than her, because you were sleeping soundly, eyes shut tight. 

Carefully, Zelda began to untangle herself from you. She had to get up. She had to get to work wrangling the household, and she was already running late. Despite her best efforts to leave you sleeping peacefully, Gus had other ideas. He woke up at the slightest shift of her leg and jumped off the bed quickly. This, in turn, stirred your sleeping form. 

She watched with bated breath as your eyes fluttered open, catching sight of Zelda right away. When you finally came to your senses, she saw a brief flash of confusion on your face, but then the pieces fell together for you. You gave her a small smile and whispered, “Good morning.” Your voice was thick with sleep. Your eyes were sleepy. Your body was so very warm. 

“Good morning.” She replied, much more raspy than your soft greeting. Seeing you there, the way you settled against her body and gazed at her like she was beautiful, it made her suddenly forget her rush to get out of bed. 

“We overslept.” Zelda observed, her face close to yours. You raised your eyebrows at that, and reached over to your side table to grab your watch and settled back into the pillows. 

“Yes, we definitely did.” You yawned. “But it was definitely worth it. I don’t think I’ve slept so well in months.” You began fiddling with the leather strap of the thing to buckle it on your wrist. Despite how practiced you were with it, you still had some difficulty so early in the morning. Out of instinct, Zelda stopped your hands from struggling any further. You let her. 

“Thank you.” You spoke earnestly when she was done. Her hands were still holding your own. Without a second thought, you leaned over and kissed her lips. Both your faces were still puffy with sleep and your mouths had morning breath, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. 

To your surprise and pleasure, Zelda let out a tiny moan at your clear show of endearment. She brought her hand around your waist and held your face with the other. Your plan for quick smooch on the lips escalated quickly as Zelda slowly rolled you over onto your back and planted her leg to the other side of your body to straddle you. 

You’d never been kissed the way Zelda kissed you. You’d never loved the feel of anyone’s legs around you like you loved hers. You pulled her closer to you. She began trailing down your jaw with her kisses, making her way to just under your ear. 

“Boof!” Gus cried out from his place at your bedroom door, looking back at you two. Zelda stopped, pulling away just enough to look at you. 

You let out a breathy laugh. “The damn dog needs to be let outside.” 

“Of course he does.” Zelda grumbled to you, her hair curtaining your face. “Will we never be uninterrupted?”   
  


“Boof, Boof!” Gus announced again, this time louder. You made an apologetic face.

“Not today, at least.” 

You two stood up and began changing into respectable clothes. Zelda, unfortunately for her, would have to wear her clothes from last night to make the long walk to her bedroom at the opposite end of the hallway. 

“I’ll go out first, if you want. Make sure the coast is clear.” You offered. Zelda seemed to ease at the suggestion. Even though you two were probably (very noticeably) the only ones not present for breakfast, it was still more appropriate to be discreet with so many people living in one place.

You let Gus out first, who dashed down the stairs immediately. You followed him out, taking a few steps out to look around. When you saw no one, you turned around and waved Zelda on. Once at the landing of the stairs, Zelda diverged from your path and headed straight to her room to get ready for the day. The mission was a success in her eyes. 

She slipped into her room quietly, and spun around to get ready. She quickly casted charms to fix her hair and makeup. Slipping into her stockings and heels. Zelda had just finished putting in her earrings when the door to the bedroom opened. Hilda walked in, looking avidly frazzled with wide eyes. Zelda put on her most stony face she could muster, refusing to be shamed by her little sister. 

“Had fun last night, did you Zelds?” Hilda queried, suggestively. She was both toying with Zelda and clearly frustrated with her older sister.

“I beg your pardon.” Zelda defended, raising her chin.

“No. No, Zelds. I beg _your_ pardon. I woke up, you were nowhere to be found! I had to mind all those witches by myself this morning. _And_ cook breakfast.” She went on. 

“Low and behold, the only two people missing this morning: you and Hesper. I know you two are destined to be together or whatever but those kid’s respect can be hard to come by. They latch onto anything for entertainment. Like this morning I dropped the-“ 

_Hilda was starting to rant and ramble. To her. To Zelda. Absolutely not. She didn’t have patience for such buffoonery._

“Enough, Hilda.” Zelda commanded, sternly. 

“The relationship between Hesper and myself is none of those nosy brats’ business.” She huffed out. 

“As for me and Hesper, not that I feel the need to defend myself to _you_ , nothing happened. We slept in the same bed, that was all.” Zelda tried her very best not to feel embarrassed at being berated like a teenager by her sister, but she couldn’t help it. She did, on occasion, care about what Hilda thought. 

“Besides, you were clearly capable of handling everything by yourself. The house is still standing and _I_ shouldn’t have to be there for _everything_ that goes on here.” 

The two sisters seemed to have an unspoken understanding that the argument had come to a draw. 

After a moment Hilda spoke again, this time with an entirely different tone. “So, you two _soulmates_ are getting along pretty well then?” 

Zelda deadpanned. “I suppose you could say that.” 

Hilda seemed to melt into gush at the idea of her sister finally finding her match. Her face crumpled with joy. “Oh Zelds, I’m so happy for you. I was so worried it wouldn’t work out after everything that happened.” 

“If anything I’m the one that should be happy, Hilda. I’m lucky Hesper even puts up with me. She’s an incredibly forgiving person.” She murmured the last part, mostly to herself than to Hilda, who’s heart seemed to be melting even further.

“Oh, pull yourself together.” Zelda snapped upon seeing Hilda’s mushy demeanor. “We have work to do.”

————————————

You made your way downstairs to the seemingly empty kitchen, on a mission to pour yourself some coffee. Just as you had picked up the half empty pot, a voice sounded from behind you. 

“I told you to go check in with my Auntie, not shag up with her.” 

You gasped at the surprise, and nearly sloshed the entire thing all over yourself. “Unholy mother of demons!” You yelped and whipped around. “Ambrose! You scared the shit out of me. Where did you even come from?” 

“Geeze, someone’s jumpy today.” He quipped with a smirk. 

You sighed and ran a hand through your hair. “I did _not_ ‘shag up’ with your Aunt, Ambrose.” 

“Then, why, exactly, were you _both_ absent at breakfast this morning? Couldn’t sleep?” He teased you, looking all self-richous in his dumb house robes. 

“Actually, yes. _Your_ Auntie hasn’t been sleeping for the last week. Until last night, I’m guessing.” You paused and blushed. “Sleeping in my bed… comforted her.” Saying it out loud made your stomach do a roll. Ambrose seemed to understand, despite his embarrassment for making you speak of such intimate subjects. He was a fully grown Wizard, after all. Surely he could handle adult conversation. 

“I see.” He said, slightly more resigned. Then decided to change the subject. “I worked on the scroll some more after you left last night. And I think I found something.” 

“You did? Oh thank Satan, we can finally crack this thing.” You exclaimed, relieved. 

“ _We_ are not. At least, not right now.” You deflated a little.

“What do you mean?” 

“Guess the lucky witch who won the drawing to watch the twins today?” 

Oh no. _The daily twin drawing._ Designed to help out Prudence and Zelda with the babies. Every day at breakfast there was an obligatory drawing to decide which two witches would babysit the twins from eleven in the morning to dinner. It was a brutal but fair system. You weren’t surprised to hear that Zelda came up with it. So far, you had evaded the drawing thoroughly. Today was not that day. 

“Shit, Ambrose. I’ve never done well with babes. Those kids are better off by themselves.” You sighed. “Who am I paired with?” 

“Sabrina. She is _equally_ as unprepared for this as you are. I suggest you mentally prepare yourself for a long day.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapters to come <3

Everything had been going smoothly with Judas and Leticia for the first couple hours. They were fed, changed, and generally not fussy, especially during the stroll you were taking them on presently. It was a clear sunny day, a little brisk sure, but you and Sabrina had bundled them up nicely. 

You were truly trying your best with them, because you knew how much Zelda cared about the children. She was their Unholy Godmother, after all. Apparently, Zelda split all responsibility for them with Prudence, but even they needed an occasional break. And so the communal raising of these babes was born. 

Sabrina, you found, was not exactly thrilled to be watching the twins, much like you. She was missing some plans she had made with her friends. Apparently, after losing Nick, her friends had been going out of their way to keep Sabrina’s mind off of everything. They were supposed to have a barbecue at Theo’s for dinner, but she was going to miss it. You frowned when you heard this. The young witch had been through so much, she deserved to be with her friends. Not babysitting with some witch she barely knew or trapped in an overcrowded house. 

The babes were behaving themselves so well on the stroll, and Sabrina was such a sweet girl, you couldn’t help but free her from her responsibilities. 

“You know what, Sabrina. You should go. I can handle them by myself for an hour or so more.”

_Bad idea, Hesper. Bad idea._

You actually are very good with slightly older kids. But you’d never had the responsibility of keeping completely helpless babes alive by yourself. As precious as the twins were, the stress to keep them happy made you fretful. But you would rise to the occasion, if not for Sabrina, the Zelda. 

You didn’t think it would be so difficult to put them down. They were positively adamant on expressing their displeasure with doubled mewling cries. Alas, you’d tried everything. Every soothing spell, every remedy. Passies, toys, Gus, rocking, milk. Nothing worked. 

_These children are as difficult as their father._

You were on the verge of breakdown in your room, about to join the two little devils with tears of your own. You shushed them desperately, and whispered please for them to stop crying. 

“Hesper. What on earth are you doing to these poor children? Where’s Sabrina?” Zelda’s voice sounded through the room suddenly. You turned around, more frazzled and stressed than you’d ever been before. You were pretty sure there was vomit on your shirt. 

“I’m trying to put them down. I let Sabrina go to her friends and now I have them both alone.” You rushed out. “Zelda, I need help.” 

“Yes, I can see that.” She stated sardonically, gazing at the scene in front of her. She was smirking. As to what she found amusing was lost on you. There was absolutely nothing funny about this. 

“Give me Leticia. Judas only cries when she is crying.” 

You picked up the baby girl carefully, concern written on your face, and delicately placed her in Zelda’s arms. The babe ceased crying immediately. You gawped. 

“I don’t understand, I held them both for at least thirty minutes.” 

Zelda cracked a smile at the babe, then raised her eyes to you. She was stunning when she smiled so easily. And even more charming with a small babe lovingly held in her arms. “They can tell that you're anxious around them. You need to calm down. Channel some motherly energy.” Zelda explained, looking down at the baby girl with adoration. You felt your heart melt a little at the scene and moved to pick up Judas. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

As predicted, he had stopped crying as soon as Leticia did. You smiled.

“You’re very good with them. They’re lucky to have someone like you. So is Prudence. I can’t imagine having to raise twin siblings alone.” You commented to Zelda, your eyes lost in the young babe’s. 

_‘Judas’ didn’t suit the lad, you thought._

“I did deliver them. When Leticia was found to be a girl I had her hidden from Faustus for her own protection. I couldn’t abandon them after everything that has happened.” 

You glanced up at her, pupils blown wide. The witch truly was incredible. And caring, despite how harsh she could come off as. There was a moment of silence. Zelda seemed so relaxed with Leticia. She seemed so comfortable.

“Did you ever want children of your own?” You asked, completely aware that it was a very heavy subject. 

In the back of your mind you knew that had you both met when you were younger, both your lives would look much different right now. You may even be holding your own child right now.

Zelda became visibly distant at the question. “Maybe once when I was much younger. But I never met anyone I wanted to start a family with. Then the desire disappeared. After that, I had Sabrina to raise.” She turned to you then. “Did _you_ ever want children?” 

You paused to think for a moment, searching for a time when you imagined having a son or daughter. 

“No, I don’t think so.I was always too busy waiting for you.” You said, quietly. 

You tried not to let the sadness wash over you at the thought. The thought that if you had only looked a little harder, you’d have found Zelda sooner. You two would be settled and happy. All the terrible things she had gone through would never have happened and years of your life wouldn’t have been wasted without her by your side. You tried your best not to entertain such thoughts, but they came anyways. You were sure that Zelda was thinking the same.

It was a loss, truly, that you two hadn’t meant when you were younger. 

You two didn’t speak for a moment after that, and instead rocked the children to sleep in both your arms. When you were sure Judas was dreaming peacefully, you turned to the bassinet and placed him gently within it. Zelda did the same. You quietly motioned for her to exit the quiet room with you, to leave them both in peace. She went out first, and you followed, carefully turning the bronze handle so it wouldn’t click quite so loud. Once in the hallway, you stopped the witch, grabbing her wrist and looking sincerely into her eyes. 

You let out a breath, something sweet and heartfelt on the tip of your tongue. But you didn’t say it. Zelda wasn’t the type to voice such tender emotions, not frequently anyways. You however, normally had no problem opening up to those you care about. You wore your heart on your sleeve. But you just couldn’t burden her with your sappy confession. 

Instead your eyes, calm and compassionate, said everything. They locked with hers. Maybe they spoke for you.

_‘I wouldn’t change any of this for the world.’_

Instead of questioning your gaze, the witch took a step forward and planted a kiss on your sweet lips. It only lasted a few generous moments, but it was enough for you to get the point.

_‘Me too.’_

————————————

“You see there- on the map- there are numbers inscribed in the correlation to the outermost landmarks. They all come in a certain order.”

Your eyes snapped down to the map below the scripture. It wasn’t geographical, but it had landmarks and signs written specifically when the underlying circular graph was intercepted. And in the middle, was what seemed to be a temple. Your fingertips grazed the scroll as if it would feed you the answers. Seeking. 

You didn’t understand, though, the whole thing seemed to be nonsensical. There was no clear path, no display of the cardinal directions, no… well, nothing. 

“If you follow the cross points from outermost to innermost, you get a numerical code.” Ambrose turned to you expectantly. But you were clearly not following. Your fingers stopped at the temple. Almost dancing with your energy. 

“And so the words are jumbled. They need to be rearranged into the order which the code is in. Arithmetically… exactly as I suggested _multiple_ times.” Always the attitude. Your eyes rolled. You almost wondered where he got it from, and then you remembered who his aunt was. 

“So if three is first in the code, we move the third word to the start? What about the letters, they’re all jumbled too?”

“Yes, exactly. And there is an enchantment placed on it, which jumbled and confuses the letters until the code is discerned. I knew I was right but _you_ wouldn’t-” Your eyes went wide and you took another hard look at the scroll which had given you both so much strife, a big smile forming on your face. You barked out a boisterous laugh. 

_Ambrose was right. And so were you. This code was special. Rearrangement and enchantment. Arrhythmic code. Ancient language. It was all incorporated._

So that was what you two did. Rearrange the words, praying that you’d gotten every number correct. When you two were finished, the wax candles had begun to run low. It was getting close to dinner. You glanced up from time to time as the flame grew weaker, but you called upon the cosmic energies for the strength within yourself to keep going. Albeit, you were tired. 

However, time seemed of little importance to you. The desperate search for answers urged your hand and mind further. With every word that you wrote, every phrase you scripted out with poetic ardor, you became less eager to write the next. Your hand stilled with Ambrose’s quill in hand. You could physically feel the muscles of your face pulling into concern. 

“Ambrose, what is the oldest name for the Amazonian culture again?” You questioned without looking up. You thought you knew, in fact you were sure of the name- _Scythians-_ but you needed confirmation. You needed to know you weren’t absolute delusional. 

_Surely this isn’t going where you think it is._

Ambrose confirmed. Your stomach dropped. Your pams went clammy and suddenly you couldn't hold the quill any longer. 

“Shit.” You whispered tersely, your eyes clenching shut. The muscles of your body tensed. Your throat closed up momentarily and the breath was stolen from your throat. 

“What is it?” So vibrant and eager was his voice. It was as if he hadn’t a clue. He didn’t have any context. He barely knew any Hellenic written in this style. But he was a smart man, he solved the scripture, without knowing much about the language. It was remarkable. But he couldn’t know what you were thinking, praise that. 

You couldn’t even begin to explain this to Ambrose, as much as you cared for him. This was far too personal and deep for him to know. It was far too ground breaking. 

Written there, only now possible to understand the ancient text’s prophecy, were the answers to your questions. Lyall _did_ crack the code. He wasn’t foolish when he spent his last breath of air presenting you with a box ‘just for you’. 

You quickly scooped up the parchment and swiftly stuffed it into your back pocket. “It’s nothing.” You said, knowing that Ambrose knew it definitely wasn’t nothing. 

His eyebrows shot up. His posture directed towards you. His idiotic robes fell into place.

“We should get to dinner.” You rushed out, trying to keep your cool. But the Hellenic resounded through your racing skull as you rushed down the creaking stairs, Ambrose on your tail. 

You’d tried to ignore every sign as you deciphered. But the truth was too real. Too evident. It was as if a spell had lifted as you got close and closer to the last sentences. 

_‘The false lover of the Scythian shall lay down his life to retrieve and deliver the_ pithos _to her, for only the sacrifice of an unloved soul can withstand the deepest tortures of the altar. The Scythians' destiny is to be the keeper of evil and to allow the savior to restore the balance of the cosmos.’_

Your mind was too quick. All the realizations, all the studying, research, manifestation couldn’t have conjured up this. Nothing else could have risen these questions. 

Had Lyall been nothing but some play of fate to complete your ‘ _destiny’._ Had he truly existed and died for no other reason than the words on that paper? And the dammed pithos- _Pandora’s fucking box-_ was in your hands. How did you miss-

You felt a strong hand wrap around your arm and whip you around. 

“What?” You clamored to the universe, desperate. Your hair whipped into a tangled mess. Every part of you felt disheveled. It was if you wished Ambrose would give the answers to this cosmic disarray. But the figure grabbing your arm absorbed it all. You halted.

You breathing was desperate too, heavily grasping for some sort of reality. Some sort of normalcy. 

“What does the scripture say? Why are you freaking out?”

His baritone whispered, his voice seemed so close to your ear. It calmed you some. 

You thought quickly. You needed an excuse. You need to play this off. “It really was nothing Ambrose. The whole thing. My boyfri- Lyall-“ You decided, “-He just wrote something personal for me, before he died. He always knew I liked a silly challenge. But he’s dead now so you can drop it, okay?”

You tried to sound defensive, emotional even, to ward off any more of Ambrose’s prying. It worked, he stepped back. 

The air around you seemed to cool. 

“You never told me Lyall died.” He stated, sadness in his voice. Sadness for you. You hated it. You hated it with all your heart. 

You swallowed. You had planned on telling him, but you’d been so caught up in the excitement, in Zelda, in the scroll. You had thought the time would come, when you first arrived here in Greendale. 

“Well he did. It was an accident. And if you don’t mind, I’d really prefer we don’t talk about it right now.” 

He deflated some. His strong hand released you. You shuffled yourself back into place and continued down the stairs as if your world hadn’t been rocked.

You entered the dining room. You’d only really composed a mental map of the mortuary today. Before you had to follow voices or other people around. When you entered, every conversation stopped to watch. 

Immediately your eyes were drawn to Zelda, who had been previously concerning herself with buttering her bread. And then you noticed the open seat next to her.

_She’d been saving it for you._

_Or everyone else had. After this morning._

You made your way around the obstacle of occupied chairs, and sat down rigidly next to her. You could see her eyes watching you intently. She was curious, but certainly not prying. 

You heard a young warlock start the conversation back up for the coven. He was trying to distract them from you. From Zelda. Bless him.

You settled into your seat, trying not to look restless, and reached to stab a slice of Hilda’s roast with the serving fork. 

“Hesper. You seem unable to spend time with anyone without upsetting them, today.” Her voice was hushed in the undertone of the clamoring teenagers, but you heard it quite clearly. 

“I take it you heard Ambrose and I then.” She continued busying herself with her plate instead of responding. 

You told her what she wanted to hear without being asked. “We were arguing over a scroll we deciphered. It was really nothing. But I can speak with you about it later if you’d like… in private.” 

“I trust that you’ll be able to soothe any unrest between you two without my help this time?” 

“Hmm. Between Ambrose and two infants I don’t know that I’ll be able to handle it.” You joked and saw her lip quirk up a little. 

“You’d better. I’d prefer our private discussions not revolve around Ambrose. Or anyone else for that matter.” It was your turn to smirk. Deep down you felt bad, though, because you knew the discussion to come would not be particularly carefree.   
  


You were one of the last to finish eating. Zelda had left earlier, her hand grazed your shoulder as she brushed past you and headed up to her study. When you’d dumped your plate and magicked it clean for Hilda, you’d followed her up. Now you sat leaning against her desk in front of her. It was your established position, you believed, even though there were other chairs in the study. 

She’d poured you and herself a drink. It was smooth at first but rounded out and burned going down. Reminded you of wood catching fire, just as it crackled warmly across the room. 

You watched her take a drag from her cigarette. Her lips found the end of the stick easily with practiced movement. As she did so, you took a deep drink from the cold glass, mirroring her indulgence. Your mind flickered back briefly to when she’d been under that damned trance. She was unpalatable then compared to now. The juxtaposition was comical. 

After a lazy moment, before the relaxation and ease that was forming in the room truly was established, you decided you should break the news. You took a deep breath. 

“I have to go back to France.” Your voice cut through the warmed air. Zelda had been letting her mind wander it seemed. Her body relaxed. But the words ended all of that. You hated it. 

Her eyes snapped up to yours. She readjusted herself in her throne, on the defense to hide the emotions that were surely rising within her, and poised herself to strike. You could physically feel her close herself off to you.

“Permanently?” Her voice was hard. If not for your position looking down at her, you would’ve felt ten times more fearful.

“No, no.” You rushed out. “I have to go retrieve something I left there. An artifact. There’s a possibility it could be useful and it’s... not safe where I left it.” Your explanation did seem to calm the air, but you still couldn’t seem to look at her head on. Your glass of scotch seemed to be very captivating at the moment.

It was all half truths. And she knew that. 

The witch hummed. “And when will you be leaving?” 

You deflated a little. You hadn’t really thought about it until now, but the matter had become much more pressing than before, now that the scroll revealed what the box actually was. 

_Pandora’s box._

_Could you even reveal something so boggling like that to her?_

“As soon as possible, now that I’m thinking about it. I’ll have to speak to my folks about a portal. I should ring them tonight.” It almost pained you to think of leaving so soon. Solemnity danced through you. But it was no friend to Zelda like it was to you. No. She was becoming more and more worked up by every word.

“So you're just going to spirit away like some repudent nymph? _Tomorrow_? When will you be returning?” 

You squared up a little at her hostile words, consciously ignoring how her beautiful way with words made you feel at the pool of your stomach. “It shouldn’t take long. No more than a day.” You deflected. 

Zelda _was_ right though. This truly came out of nowhere. Things were finally starting to feel normal here in the Mortuary.

“Well, if it truly shouldn’t take much time, then I’m coming with you.” She breathed out with the utmost finality. As if it were an obvious path. _That_ was definitely not what you were expecting her to say. 

“Surely, now is not the time for you to be taking a trip to France. You have an entire coven squatting in your home.” You reasoned, a little astonished that she even suggested such a spontaneous idea. She always seemed so.. grounded. 

The beautiful woman let out a tiny laugh and puffed out a breath of smoke. “Please. If I can’t leave these helpless buffoons alone for one day then I might as well let them tear each other apart now.” 

“You’re being serious?” 

“Of course I am. I’m always serious.” 

“And you realize you’ll be meeting my parents, don’t you?” You warned.

“Yes. I don’t see what the issue would be with that.” 

“It’s just that-“ you paused to think. Your parents were a different breed of difficult. They had never seen eye-to-eye with you. “- well I didn’t exactly leave on good terms with them. Things were a little… rocky.”

“Do you not think that I, Zelda Spellman, can’t handle a little family strife?” She had a fair point. She had handled far more serious issues within the last month with her lot than you could have even imagined. And things were majorly settled for the time being. 

“No, you’re right. You might even get on with them. Okay- well- okay. I’ll make the call, then. If this is really what you want to do.” 

She nodded. “It is.” 

———————————————

You’d set your alarm for five in the morning last night. You’d wanted to get a jump on the day for traveling. It was now ringing violently throughout the room. Sometimes you truly hated your personal sense of diligence. 

The figure to your right let out an irritated grumble. You were reminded then, that you did have your soulmate in bed with you at the current moment. Her hand splayed out under your shirt and her legs tangled with your own. You let yourself feel the weight of her body in your bed and the feel of her pressed up against you. You took in a deep breath through your nose and was greeted with the comforting smell of rose perfume from the day before. You’d almost forgot about the blaring noise screaming at you to open your eyes and not settle in deeper into Zelda’s grasp like you did.

“Turn that odious noise off.” The witch next to you grumbled out again, this time more audible.

Your hand flew out to quiet the ringing. You felt the slumberous woman shift back into her dormant position immediately after the room was once again silent. It truly was a shame that you couldn’t let her sleep longer, she looked so lovely while she slept. 

“Zelda.” You whispered to her. Your hand snaked up her arm. “Zelda. Wake up.” You shook her a little. She shut her eyes tighter. 

_Clearly she’s not so much of a morning person._

You snapped your fingers and illuminated the antique lamp next you. Even the dim light was a little too bright so early in the morning. Your weight shifted towards her and you planted a kiss at the corner of her mouth. Then you brought your sweet lips close to her ear. Her red hair brushed softly against your face. “It’s time to get up, my belle.” 

Her eyes fluttered open at that and locked onto yours right away. 

“Belle?” She questioned, her voice thick and low with sleep. 

“It’s French.” You cleared up.   
  


“For pretty. Yes, I know that.” 

“You don’t like it? I could always call you something else. Honeybun? Sweetheart?” You playfully suggested. She’d absolutely hate those. 

She scoffed. “Oh Hell, please don’t. I was just surprised, is all. No one has ever entertained the idea of endearing names for me.” 

“That’s not true. Your lot has nicknames for you. Zelds and Auntie Zee. I’ve heard it. Unless of course, you mean romantically.” 

“Well, I haven’t particularly been known for doting romantics in the past.” 

You hummed. You hand traveled down between the sheets and her silk nightdress to grip her waist teasingly. Your face found its place back in the crook of her neck once more. You haughtily placed an open mouthed kiss just under her jaw there. “We’ll have to fix that, won’t we, my belle?” 

“I suppose I don’t entirely detest the idea.” She murmured, mostly in response to your most current developments. Your long leg had found its place between hers. You let your kisses trail down to her exposed collarbone which heaved up in agreement. Zelda, though you weren’t surprised by this, was very much reactive towards every move you made. When you pressed down, she pressed back equally. You breathed out a hot breath, so did she. When your wisps of hair tickled her bare skin, goosebumps rose. It was intoxicating, addictive, intriguing, like an experiment as you explored all these vibrant reactions. 

You could very easily get carried away in this. But you couldn’t let her sly hands roam any longer right now. You two were on a tight schedule. 

“Come on, it’s time to get up.” You breathed out, giving Zelda’s thigh a light squeeze before rolling off.

—————— 

The gateway was situated at the highest point of the Dinan in the old cemetery. It was not far from your family’s property, but the estate was still in the outskirts of town so the journey was not yet over. No one really ventured up to these burial grounds anymore. You turned to Zelda and saw her give a weary look around the unkept plot. 

You offhandedly mentioned to Zelda that it was rumored throughout the townsfolk to be haunted, figure that. You’d hoped paranormal would pique her interest like always, but it didn’t.

“There does seem to be something off about the air here.” She murmured and wrapped her coat around herself tighter. 

You quirked an eyebrow. “Really? That’s what people always say, but I’ve never been bothered by it. You must be getting soft, Zelda.” You teased. This time your attempt to rouse a reaction did work. She rolled her eyes, a small smile playing at her lips.

It was a desolate and chilling day. The sky was a very somber gray, but occasionally the bright January sun would beam through. You stared down at the little French town and immediately had memories flood your mind. They were all good ones, either. 

“We’ll be picked up at the pub down there.” You gestured to an old brick building that sat on the corner of main street. It was across the way from the chapel in town square, ironically enough. “We can’t spirit away to the house, not even family members. Our wards extend too far beyond the property.” 

Zelda acknowledged your words, eyes scanning the twin below.

“How charming.” Zelda said, sarcasm dripping off her words. You chuckled.

“Yes, I know. You won’t find much French ‘je ne sais quoi’ here, not in the winter, and especially not at Bricken’s pub. The whole place looks utterly dilapidated without the greenery.” 

The walk wasn’t far. As you lead her down the cobbled streets, Zelda asks if you were raised here. Your accent was not French, it was English, but you could speak the language perfectly. You explained that, no, you weren’t raised in Dinan.You were raised in London. That’s where you went to school too. But not long after you began your schooling, your family decided to make a permanent room to the countryside. She hummed in understanding. Hilda had gotten her accent in a similar manner. 

Your warm breath visibly puffed out into the crisp air. Some of the townsfolk recognized you and gave a wave, others didn’t, but not many were out on the streets. Your family wasn’t exactly loved by all, but they were close with some, especially those under your father’s coven. 

Bricken’s hadn’t changed at all since you last visited. It was still furnished with the same beaten-up wooden furniture, and still smelled like dust and booze. Zelda was clearly unimpressed with the establishment, her nose turned up, and you couldn’t blame her. It was nothing like Dorian’s. Still, Bricken’s was the only place for miles which served alcohol, which was good enough for the both of you. You led her to a table next to the front window so that you could see your ride arrive. 

“No, don’t sit in that one. The leg is broken.” You stopped her, you hand pressing on the small of her back. 

“It was smashed over a lads head the last time I was here, but Mr. Bricken couldn’t have been bothered to fix it, it seems.” She threw you a skeptical look. 

Instead of sitting, she dropped her bags and folded her arms. 

“You started a bar fight?” 

You let out a laugh. “Where did you get that idea from?” 

“I can see the guilt dripping off you.” 

“Even if I was the reason it started, I wouldn’t feel guilty about it. Bloody bastards deserved it.”   
  


“Why am I not surprised? Just give me the coin, I’ll go get us drinks. Clearly you can’t be trusted around these mortals.” You did as she asked, a bashful smile on your lips. You warned her, though, not to get any ale, it tasted like piss, and that they didn’t serve scotch here either. Also, you added that the only tender who spoke a lick of English was Gabriel, at the far end. 

You sat down at the table, patiently waiting for Zelda to return. You could vaguely hear her conversation with Gabriel from across the way. The older man seemed to be trying desperately to chat her up, but of course she was having none of it. You smirked. 

You felt a rush of cold air and heard the pub door open. When you turned to look, you were greeted by the permanently grimm face of your father. You stood to greet him, you saw a microscopic quirk of his lips from beneath his well-kept mustache, but nothing else. 

Zelda had made her way to your table before your father had put his coat and hat up on the coat rack. 

“Absinthe. Rather strong this early but they have nothing else but white wine and ale, and I know how you hate white wine.” Zelda handed you the glass. She was about to pull out her chair when your father approached.

He didn’t even spare more than a glance to acknowledge Zelda and turned to you head-on with a sour expression on his face. He locked eyes with you and spoke in harsh French,

“Who is this bitch?” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapters in the works <3 I’m sorry for the short chapter but I’m trying to keep them rolling out.

“Who is this bitch?” 

You gaped. You heard Zelda ask you something, but you didn’t catch it. She raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes at the man, her shoulders rounding against him from where she stood behind her chair. Your father completely ignored her presence. Your felt your fists clenched. 

“Papa, show some respect.” You ground out in flawless French. Your eyes flashed dangerously at him. You did not need your father blatantly disrespecting Zelda, not when she would hex him and his well-polished shoes into oblivion, knowing her. Your father leered at you, and took a threatening step closer to you so that he didn’t draw attention to you all. 

“No, you have some. Who do you think you are, bringing home American whores? Are you trying to upset your mother and I?”

You leaned back, speechless, and turned your chin up as your hands found their way onto your hips. “Zelda is not a whore. She’s a very respectable witch and you will not talk about her that way.” 

You father paused for a moment, surprised at how you both defended her and at the news you just spilled. 

“ _Zelda?’_ Did your soulmate finally decide to show up, then? She looks far too old for you.” The Devil only knows what would happen if Zelda understood half of the conversation. You decided to blatantly ignore the last comment, lest you allow your anger to get the best of you. Your jaw was starting to hurt from clenching so hard. 

“Where is Mother?” You asked, desperate for her to walk through the doors of the pub and calm the situation. She was usually more reasonable than him. 

You were still furious with him, but you were relieved to see him relax just a little. “She stayed at the house, there was no room for her in the Lago.” 

“Why on earth did you take the Lago?” 

“Your brother took the truck to the clergy meeting. There will be no room for _her_ either.” He gestured to Zelda. 

Your eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

“I’m not going to leave her here. I didn’t pick her up off the streets, for Satan’s sake!” 

Zelda must’ve seen that you were getting very worked up very quickly. You could feel tension building in your muscles. She grabbed your hand quickly to try and reign you in. You allowed her palm to press against your own and for her fingers wrap around yours gently. You whipped your head to look at her. Concern and confusion was plain on her face. You could practically hear what she was trying to wordlessly communicate to you. ‘ _You need to calm down, Hesper.’_ You frowned, apologetic towards her. You were only defending her after all, but you took her cue to heart. Your rising temper cooled down. 

Your father huffed and eyed the exchange, his expression was unreadable. “Just take the damned car. I’ll get a ride home with Monroe when he’s done at the church.” He tossed the keys on the table, they clinked against the hardwood. “I need a beer.” He finally said in English, turning on his heel to stalk towards the bar. 

Zelda turned to you, wide eyed, and about fifty questions on her mind. You answered the first one before she could spit it out.

“My father.” You sighed and sat down gracelessly in your chair, “He’s a rough sort, but all talk. I actually think you two would get on, if he gave it a chance.” You sighed and took a swig of your drink. 

“He didn’t know who I was.” Zelda tearsly observed, although her voice was directed mostly to the air. Maybe she had gotten the gist of the conversation. 

“Well, I didn’t exactly think that a grown witch had to ask permission to bring her _actual_ soulmate home to her family.” 

She scoffed. “Did you even tell your family that you met me?” 

You went quiet for a moment before shaking your head. “I haven’t exactly been keeping in touch with them until now. I haven’t been in touch with them since…” you stopped yourself. Zelda noticed immediately.

“I would be very appreciative if you didn’t keep important details from me. Clearly, you have a bad habit of keeping people in the dark.” Her words were clipped and chastising, but you knew they were deserved. The occasional careless chattering of the patrons in the pub carried on.

“It’s not that, it’s just that it is not a very pleasant story.” You took a deep breath, your eyes finally finding hers. Despite her facial expression, an expression of exasperation which you often found her throwing to Sabrina, her eyes were as welcoming as always. She sat poised in the rustic wooden chair, head high, captivating eyes casting down at you.

“I’d really rather talk in private about it. It's… complicated.” She studied you for a moment. You were telling the truth. 

“Fine, if that’s what you prefer.” She took a deep drink from her glass, almost finishing off the strong beverage.

“Anyways, we’re taking the car home ourselves. I can fill you in on the way.” You finished and took a large swig of the clear liquid in front of you. 

Zelda rolled her eyes at you as if you were some teenager. For some reason, her attitude never got to you, even though you were normally the type to start bar brawls at the drop of a hat.

You and Zelda both finished off a single glass of absinthe before setting off. You took Zelda’s bag from her and put them in the storage space with your own. Her eyes were roaming the vehicle’s teardrop shaped curves and vintage form. You walked around to her side and opened the door for her without second thought. She thanked you.

Once in the car, you spoke up. “It’s about a twenty minute drive from here.” You said, adjusting the clutch. 

The vehicle began rolling, the suspension was not built for cobbled streets, though, so it would be rough for a while. Zelda nodded and pointed out that she hadn’t been in a car like this for ages. You smiled, it was a Talbot-Lago, built back in 1937. You were there when your father purchased it off the floor. It was his pride and joy. 

“That’s not too far...” She responded, impressed, her hands running along the well kept leather interior. “Tell me about what happened with your family.” 

You bit your lip, keeping your eyes trained on the road in front of you. you check your mirrors before answering, mostly just to gather up some courage. 

“I told you that I lost someone close to me not too long ago, didn’t I?” She nodded. 

“Well,” you cleared your throat, “he was my… boyfriend, Lyall. He was a family friend, my parents absolutely adored him. My father always wanted me to marry Lyall and settle down at home, but I never did.” You shrugged your shoulders a little. “Instead my parents saw me wasting my life away, chasing ancient ruins and stringing along a man with otherwise great potential.” 

Zelda turned in her seat to look at you then. You loved the way the leather sounded pressing against her. It was lyrical and distracting. 

“Your father didn’t want you to find your soulmate?” That was surprising to her. Zelda’s parents had always been adamant that she found you her whole life. That’s part of the reason it stung so bad when she didn’t for a long time. 

“No, he didn’t. He’s the high priest here, so he wanted a strong predecessor like Lyall in the family. And his parents were soulmates, but their relationship was destructive. He never saw the validity in soulmates after that.” 

_That’s also how you knew you could still fuck things up with Zelda if you weren’t careful. Soulmates weren’t always perfect._

“Anyways, when Lyall died hunting down an ancient artifact, my parents saw his death as my fault. My mother in particular never approved of my area of study. I couldn’t stand living with them after that, but I had nowhere else to go, so I left to visit Ambrose in America, which is when…” your hand came off the wheel to grab Zelda’s, “I met you.” 

Zelda had a small frown on her lips. But when you brought her knuckles to your lips, her hard demeanor softened.

“I see.” She murmured. 

You turned the Lago down a small road with rocks high on both sides. In the end it led further into the forest. You kept driving for a while, over the bridge above the wide, rushing creek and finally up the road to an old stone farmhouse with a large cobbled driveway. Behind the house, you could tell that the edge of the forest was there, as well as a barn and a shed. It sat in front of a decently rich valley, thanks to your mother’s work on the soil. 

“Here we are. Rosier Estate.” 

You are admiring how much the house hadn’t changed when you saw the large wooden front door of the rustic house swing open violently. Out busted two collies, practically bouncing over to the Lando. You opened the card door eagerly, allowing the dogs to jump up onto your lap, a big smile on your face. 

You glanced back up then and saw your mother, standing tall. Her black hair now had strong streaks of gray, pulled back with stray hairs flying wildly about her once glowingly beautiful face. Her tanned olive skin made it so that you couldn’t see the dirt and grime covering her body from head to toe, but her work clothes were clearly filthy. She moved with impressive legerity over to greet you. Her smile showed off her ethnic features which were prominent in Amazonian witches, as well as her noticeable wrinkles. 

“Hesperana, you’re home.” She hollered out to you, pronouncing your birth given name without the ‘H’ as always. You fought off the dogs and stood up to greet her. She was a little shorter than you, but not much, and less slender. You hugged her without regard for the dirt that would get on you. 

“Yes, I am.” You declared, “ _and_ I want you to meet someone.” You turned to where Zelda was now fighting off the dogs, much better than you had, and gracefully stepped out of the vintage car. 

“This is Zelda, my soulmate.” You gave Zelda an encouraging smile. “Zelda, this is my mother.” Your mother’s face changed to one of pure joy. Her eyes got comically large, and she let out an ecstatic shout as she took Zelda in, who was making her way around the car with confidence in step.

“ _Your_ Zelda?” She gasped. You nodded. “Wow, Hesperana, she’s beautiful. I’m so happy to finally meet you.” 

It dawned on you, as your mother wrapped Zelda in a big hug with complete disregard for the filth she was smudging onto her, that they actually weren’t that different in age. Zelda couldn’t have been much younger than your mother, and you didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. 

You also realized, probably far too late, that Zelda and your mother were also two very different people. Your mother was free spirited and was used to physical labor, whereas Zelda was traditional and… well, pampered wasn’t the right word. 

But you couldn’t worry about that right now. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Mrs. Rosier” You heard Zelda tell your mother in a pleasant tone, although you knew deep down that she wasn’t a fan of hugs, especially not from people she just met. Your mother finally released Zelda from her death grip and turned to you.

“Oh, please Zelda, call me Eileen.” She dismissed her formalities. Your mother had an amazing talent at making people feel comfortable. You sometimes thought she passed that trait onto you. Your mother spoke again, turning to you. “Hesperana, where’s your father?” 

“Oh, there was no room in the Lando so he’ll catch a ride home with Monroe before dinner.” 

She nodded in understanding, before enthusiastically inviting you both in. You grabbed the bags out of the car, and marched inside as instructed, the collies brushing past your legs. You made it to the kitchen, and sat the two bags on the counter. Your mother was already chatting up Zelda about everything under the sun and making some tea. You gave Zelda a reassuring nod. _‘Yes, she is like this with everyone.’_ A stark contrast from your father.

You glanced outside the window above the sink, which usually gave a perfect view of the well-kept farm. You froze at what you saw, and rubbed your eyes before taking a step closer to look out. The pastures were run amuck, fences broken, and the rows of wheat and barley were completely neglected. You couldn’t wait for them to finish their conversation. 

“Mama! The farm- it’s gone to shit. What happened?” 

Your mother stopped mid sentence at what she was saying to Zelda and turned stoney.

You gripped the windowsill tighter as your peered out the back. “Where are the golems?” You gasped out. You’d never seen the farm look so, well, shitty. 

“They disappeared, not long after you left for America. I haven’t been able to keep up the farm without them or you to help.” 

“What do you mean, ‘they disappeared’. Can you just reanimate them like always?” 

“Hesperana, it’s not like they simply perished in the fields. They seem to have up and left. I can’t find their remains anywhere to reanimate them.” 

“Golems don’t just _leave_ , do they?” Zelda questioned from her place on the the couch.   
  


“Well they’re certainly not supposed to. Golems are supposed to only be loyal to the animator's desires. I was hoping you could help me search for them tomorrow, once you’re settled back in.”

“Mother, this was supposed to be a day trip. We’ll be gone by tomorrow. I can’t help you hunt down a rogue pack of golems.” You exclaimed, already frustrated with your mother’s wild expectations for you. 

“And Zelda has a life to get back to in Greendale. She’s the head of her family and coven there.” You turned to her. She had made her way over to the kitchen to look out the window. You saw her eyebrow raise a little and a frown form on her lips. 

“You rely on golems to care for your farm?” She asked, her interest piqued. 

“Yes, it’s a practice that dates back in Amazonian witches for thousands of years. They’re strong and loyal, but you can hardly make new clay golems from scratch, and they’re vital for us.” You explained. 

“And your father is no help, he never liked them, or any of the old magic we used for that matter.” 

You scoffed at your mother’s words.

“That’s an understatement.”

Zelda spoke up, turning towards you. “You never told me that you practiced Amazonian witchcraft.” 

You shrank in on yourself a little, and your mother quirked a brow at the exchange. “Well, I guess you could say that my magic is almost a mix.”

“That’s because she never fully dedicated herself to one cause like she should’ve.” Your mother called you out, and turned to you head on to lower her voice, “You know, _she_ wrote to you again.” 

You rolled your eyes as huffed. 

“ _She_ is the least of my worries right now, and so is sorting out whatever unrealistic dedications and expectations _you_ have for me.” This was an old argument that you’d been having with her for years, and you didn’t have time to hash it out with her again. 

Your mother narrowed her eyes but decided it better not to start with you. 

“Zelda, would you like to help me in the kitchen. Hesper can settle you two in later.”

“Actually, we need to head out. I’d rather not leave the artifact where it is longer than necessary.” 

“Always concerned with the ancient artifacts. I’m sure you’re used to her antics by now, Zelda.” 

“Actually, Hesper has only really shown interest in this until recently.”

“Well I’m assuming that’s because this is the artifact Lyall found before he died. Is it not, Hesperana?” Zeld tried to pretend like she was unaffected by your mother’s words, but she was. She went stiff at hearing _his_ name so soon again. 

“Yes, it is. But that’s not why I’m here for it.” You defended. Your mother looks at you, a question on her young. You explained that yes, you had told Zelda about Lyall. Your mother let out a breath. “Oh, good. I know how you can be Hesper, just like your father.” You threw her a dirty look. 

“Why don’t we drop our bags and head out, Zelda? Where do you want us, Ma?” 

“You can stay in your old room, upstairs. Or you two can stay up the hill, but I haven’t fixed it up, yet. I suppose I could do that while you two are out.” 

“Could you? My old room is far too small.” 

  
————————————

You’d hidden the box deep in the forest off a trail on the far end of the farm. You’d found that your own protection charms worked better the closer you got to the center of the property wards, so you’d hidden a lot of your valued artifacts out there. You’d spent the hike explaining this to Zelda. It was a fairly far walk out there, especially out in the cold. Neither of you seemed to mind, although Zelda did have to borrow a pair of boots in substitution for her heels to make the trek across the gravel and mud. 

“Your mother reminds me a lot of you. She’s very welcoming.” 

“Yes, well she makes a good impression. Living with her all these years can get to you though.” 

“How is it that you are able to practice Amazonian and Satanic witchcraft?”

You shrugged “It’s just a part of me. But my father would kill me if he found out my dedication to the Dark Lord was at all lacking.”

“And if he found out what we did to Lucifer?” She questioned cautiously. You sighed, and looked up to the gray clouds and bright sunbeams. 

“It wouldn’t be ideal, he’s very devout. Me and my mother always had to suppress our ancestor’s magic in front of him. The only exception he made was for the farm.” 

You two had made it to the edge of the farm where the forest began again. There was a path that led deep into the woods there. It wasn’t very well kept, unfortunately. You were the only one who ever took it. 

“And what about Lyall and the artifact?” 

You frowned. “Lyall died because he went looking for this box. He had a scroll that led him to it, the scroll me and Ambrose were deciphering. It revealed that the box could be more useful than I initially thought.” 

“Useful how?” She looked at you with skeptical eyes and inquiry on her beautiful face. The cold was turning her nose pink, even through her makeup. 

“Well, if I’m correct, it could be used as a trap strong enough to hold Lucifer. That poor boy won’t have to be tortured any- watch yourself!” 

You hand wrapped around Zelda’s arm and you pulled her back to you. Just as you did so, a broken tree branch that had been only hanging on by a few fibers fell to the ground in front of you two. There was a moment of shock shared between you two, Zelda’s hand gripping your shoulder tightly. You let out a breath and allowed your gaze to wonder upwards. The foliage was destroyed around you, broken branches and upturned rocks. 

“Something has been through here.” You whispered to her. Cautiously you stepped over the log and glanced around. 

“I thought your family’s wards would prevent anything unwanted from trespassing.”

“That’s the idea. But you can’t keep everything out.” 

You continued on forward far more alertly, Zelda at your tail. Your steps were careful and precise, you felt your magic pull to your fingertips. 

You arrived at the circular clearing in the middle of the forest. It was sunk into the ground, and the walls were defined by naturally formed stone. There were a few tree stumps there with your most precious artifacts and scrolls resting atop them. You had carefully encircled every one with salt from the Dead Sea. All but one had been left perfectly untouched. Your eyes locked with the uprooted stump, the perfect circle of salt scattered. Missing was Pandora’s box. Your face fell and your stomach clenched. 

“Fucking hell, it’s gone.” You whispered to Zelda, completely stunned. You continued to take in the scene below you as you took the first cobbled step downwards. Surrounding the stump was the dismembered bodies of clay golems.

“Now we know where your mother’s golems went.” Zelda murmured. 

“They are commanded to defend the thing most precious to the family. I guess it used to be the farm, but now…” You approached the head of a golem that was still intact. You rolled it over to take a look. 

“Whatever did this knew to destroy the crystal that gave them their life force.” You frowned. “They can’t be reanimated without it.” You ran your finger over the crumbling head of the poor thing. They weren’t just mindless drones. Sometimes it seemed like they had actual feelings. You used to play with them when you were little. 

“But this is Amazonian magic, isn’t it? How could anyone know to do that?” Zelda bent down to observe the damage. 

You shrugged a little. You picked up another decapitated head, the crystal was also crushed. 

“It’s a damn shame. If we could only reanimate one, it would still remember what did this. Maybe even know where it went.” You felt utterly defeated. The Pithos was gone. The golems were gone. You’d promised Lyall you would protect the box and you’d failed. You’d blown it. 

Your eyes started to water a little. You suddenly stood up straight and turned on your heel away from the damage, and began taking steps back up the cobbled stairs. Zelda watched you go, a question forming on her tongue.

“I just need a minute.” You hollered back to her, your voice breaking a little despite your best efforts to stay strong. You couldn’t find the energy to make it all the way back up, so you settled down on the middling ledge. You put your head in your hands between your legs, emotion overcoming you. Your deep brown hair curtained your face like a shield as you squeezed your eyes shut. 

After a moment, you heard Zelda approach you quietly and make her way up the stairs. She came to sit right next to you, her hand snaking around your back and rubbing in soothing circles. You felt pathetic to have to be comforted, but you also relished in it. Her touch had a way of soothing you. 

You sucked in a breath, head still casted down. “It’s all going to shit. I don’t know what to do.” You whispered out, shaking your head a little. You felt her chin come to rest on your shoulder. 

“Look.” She commanded softly to you. You forced your eyes open. Out in front of you Zelda held a deep green crystal, completely scathless. You gasped, your hand flying to your mouth and eyes crinkling with joy. 

“You found one.” You breathed out, turning to her. She nodded. Your hand wrapped around hers and you brought it to your lips with a feverish kiss. “Oh Satan, what would I do without you?” Your hand released hers and came up to cup her cheek, pulling her face towards hers to place a gracious kiss on her lips. She let out a breathily laugh at your enthusiasm. 

You smiled broadly at her. “Now all we have to do is perform reanimation, the poor thing will be built back up again by midnight.” 

Her face changed a little, no longer mirroring your happiness, and her eyes casted down before finding yours again, this time with concern etched throughout. 

“Tell me why this box is so precious, really. Nothing would have stolen it like this if it wasn’t more powerful than your letting on.”

Your smile fell now. You had to tell her the truth. Otherwise she’ll be wondering why you’d been trying so hard to get the box back. 

“It is powerful, you’re right. It’s legendary, really.” 

You looked at your hands for a moment, suddenly remembering the day Lyall brought it to you, covered in his own blood. 

“I believe it’s Pandora’s Box, Pithos.”   
  


She barked out a laugh. “Pandora’s box has been lost for a millenium.” She steadied her gaze at you. “You can’t be serious.” 

“I am. The scroll confirms it. You said it yourself, nothing would go to this length for anything less. I have to get it back.” 

Her hand found yours once more. She passed the crystal to you and squeezed your hand tight. “Okay.” 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **** EXPLICIT CONTENT AT THE END OF CHAPTER****
> 
> More chapters in the works <3

You and Zelda returned to the main house for dinner after rearranging the dismembered golem to be reanimated. You’d left it out there, basking in the elements, slowly building up a life force one more. Zelda had been enchanted by your work. You supposed she’d never seen Amazonian witchcraft firsthand. It was generally more spiritual and elementally based than Satanic witchcraft. Regardless, you could help but smile when she practically had stars in her eyes. 

At the house, the table had been set with your mother’s craftsman’s dinner set. You and Zelda had made it back to the house in reasonable time. Zelda had been able to help your mother with dinner as promised, and it wasn’t very late in the afternoon when the main course was prepped and roasting in the wood-burning oven. The sun hadn’t even set yet, which spoke to your all’s timely work, but luckily your father and brother had already returned. 

You’d never had any problems with your younger brother, Monroe. You two got on pretty well most of the time. In your parents’ eyes, he was a golden boy. He could do no wrong, the sun shined down solely upon him, especially compared to you; defiant, head in the clouds, wreckless priorities. Your brother was tall and handsome, very close to the male version of you, but he took after your mother much more. He would someday be High Priest, which enthralled your father, and he’d recently settled down on his own plot of land with his pregnant wife, Victoria. Unfortunately she hadn't been able to make it, but that didn’t stop your parents from gushing on about what a wonderful life Monroe had made for himself. It was unbelievably irritating. 

What was worse, Zelda seemed to like him, too. It made sense, of course, he was a kind man, but he was almost obnoxiously perfect. You’d have thought Zelda would have found his manner agitating. He was almost too perfect. But the more you listened to their perfectly pleasant conversation, the way he smiled at her, the way she laughed at his jokes, the harder and faster you chopped the chives within your death grip. 

“High Priestess? That sounds incredibly progressive of you, I’m very impressed.” Monroe did have a French accent too, the bastard, and you could only imagine the effect it was having on Zelda, drawing her in. You knew you were being ridiculous, but your old childhood jealousy was easily snowballing out of proportion. 

_You could always speak to her in French, if you wanted. Especially in bed. You’d wager that she’d like that._

“Oh, don’t be. Desperate times called for extreme measures.”

_Listen to her, being all humble. It sounded ridiculous coming from her, just to impress him probably. Zelda was one of the most proud people you knew._

“Still, Hesper must be very pleased. And the rest of your family too-“ 

You flung your knife acrimoniously and it clattered loudly onto the counter, stopping their conversation.

“Shit-“ you hissed out and pain as you inspected the damage you caused to your index finger. 

“You’re bleeding, sister.“ Monroe spoke, concern evident in his voice.

“I know that, you arsehole.” 

“Let me see.” Zelda pulled your hand away from where you were gripping it tightly and gently dabbed a clean cloth onto it. “You’ll just need some healing salve and a bandage for a few hours and then you’ll be fine.” She spoke to you, and walked you over to the sink to run your bleeding cut under the water. Monroe had gone to ask your mother where the medical supplies were. 

“At least it’s just a little blood, I’m sure it will season the chives nicely.” She smirked. She probably was right too. The iron would add a nice kick. You huffed in response.

“What’s gotten into you?” She asked, serious now. You frowned, knowing you were being needlessly childish. It was just a cut, and your brother was just being welcoming. Which was a lot, considering how close he had been with Lyall.

“Nothing, really. I’m just a little wound up is all.” You dismissed, looking everywhere but at her. She leaned in close to you so that her nose was almost touching yours, all the while holding your hand firmly under the water. She had that wicked glint in her eye. 

“If only there was something we could do about that.” She whispered suggestively. You felt your knees go weak at her words, your eyes finding hers innocently. It would be nice if you two could just slip away for a few moments. 

Monroe came back into the kitchen with the supplies. Zelda pulled away from you then, cold air in wake of her warming breath. 

“How about some more wine?” She asked, tossing you a rag to stop the bleeding and topping off your glass of red with ease. She set the glass down in front of you and grabbed your injured hand once more. She got to work immediately, applying the salve and wrapping it just tightly enough. You thanked her, and took a deep sip of your wine.   
————————————  
  


Dinner was going well enough. Your father was yet to apologize for his behavior earlier in the pub, not that you really expected him too. He at least had a slightly better demeanor about himself now. You mother always had a way of calming him down. 

Zelda was sitting next to you. She had her legs crossed so that she could run the top of her foot against the length of your calf. You tried not to let yourself lean into the affection too obviously, but it was vertically impossible. She had been fuming seduction ever since your mother cracked open the red wine.

“I found Lyall’s old notebook in my office the other day, Hesper. He truly had some inspiring notions towards Satanic ritual reform, specifically during Black Mass. All subtle stuff, but the little things matter.” 

You raised your eyebrows a little at his comment, trying to be pleasant, and took another bite of your chicken. You didn’t particularly want to engage on the subject more than you had too. Luckily for you, your father was happy to compensate for your obvious lack of enthusiasm. 

“It’s a shame the lad couldn’t have done more for the church before his time ended. Instead he was busy chasing after our Hesper like a lost puppy.” 

Your eyes snapped up to your father. He was dressed sharply as always, with his mustache well trimmed. It seemed he even took the time to shave his afternoon shadow before coming to the table. You could feel Zelda’s comforting movements cease. Her eyes flickered to you. 

“Need I remind you, father, that Lyall chose to go on expeditions with me?” You spoke eloquently, trying to keep your tone lightly unbothered by his words. 

“Yes, well he would have made a real impact in the church if you’d encouraged him to stay.” 

“John, please.” Your mother stopped him in his tracts. She was always dressed more casually than your father and normally donned earthy or practical clothing. Tonight, it seemed she has also tried to look presentable for you two. She threw you and Zelda an apologetic glance.

There was silence for a short minute. All that could be heard was forks and knives scoring against the porcelain plates. Your brother, always the pleaser, tried to get the conversation going again. 

“Father, Zelda here is going to be head of her coven. It seems they ran into a rough patch a while back and have to rebuild.” He spoke pleasantly, hinting at how impressed he was with her. 

_Why did he have to bring that up, of all things?_

your father scoffed. “Head of the coven? A woman can’t be head of a coven, let alone High Priest. You should know that, boy.” 

Zelda cleared her throat. “Actually, it will be High Priestess. Unfortunately, Mr. Rosier, we don’t have any other options.”   
  


“She's very qualified and devout, father. She will be perfectly capable regardless of her sex.” You added. Zelda gave you a small smile. 

You saw your mother’s hand move to rest on your father’s, trying to reign him in from saying anything else offensive. It seemed to work for the time being. The dinner table went silent again, the strain on the conversation was evident. You were still hopeful it would turn around. 

“Do you family, Zelda? You said you also ran a family Mortuary in Greendale, so I could only assume…”

Zelda’s eyes locked with your mother’s and she gave a pleasant smile. A smile you were sure she reserved for all occasions that required a degree of hospitality. 

“My sister and I run the Mortuary together. But we also raised our niece Sabrina and looked after her older cousin, Ambrose. He’s part of the reason Hesper and I met at the Academy of Unseen Arts.” Zelda explained to your mother, who took the information in as one normally one. Your father however, slowly looked up from his plate when he heard the name of the academy, brows furrowed. 

“You weren’t married to High Priest Faustus Blackwood were you? And with step children too, across the pond in New York?” He asked, squaring his shoulders at Zelda. You suddenly felt very defensive of her.   
  


“Well, yes. But that’s-“

Your father let out a booming laugh, but not well intentioned. “Oh, I just knew it. Soulmates always bring out the worst in people. Just giving out excuses to undermine our rules and ruin unholy marriages like always.”

He turned to your mother, “Did you hear that Eileen, Hesper probably came along and ruined Father Blackwood’s damned life. Stole his wife right out from under him.”   
  


You normally could handle it when people talked bad about you, but his words _stung._ They were so diminishing. You stood up from the table, your hands clenching at your side. You plate clattering loudly at your abruptness. You whipped around, Zelda’s hand tried to catch yours but you wouldn’t let her. You stormed out of the room furiously. Zelda saw your head for the front door, and heard it shut loudly a second later. She was caught between going after you and hexing this wretched well-groomed man into a pig. 

Eileen, it seemed, did not find the situation as amusing as her husband did. She had an identical stormy expression as you sometimes got, Zelda realized. “John, you really should not-“ Your mother began, but was cut short. 

“No Eileen, I told you from the beginning. Soulmates just cause trouble. Now both Hesper and Zelda have lost happy marriages to two decent warlocks. And for what?” He ended in a final deep tone, leaning back in her chair like some righteous snob. He thought he’d won his point. 

Zelda stood up then, her hands slamming face down on the table. She looked at the man head-on, her eyes narrowed. “Faustus Blackwood was _anything but decent_. You have no idea what you are speaking of, Mr. Rosier.” She spat out at him. The man’s mouth opened and closed stupidly for a moment. She realized then, that she couldn’t possibly be bothered to hear his response. Without a second thought, Zelda grabbed the half empty bottle of red wine from the table (she deemed it impossible to be more ill-mannered than her hosts at this point, so why not?) and left the room. Once in the foyer, Zeda noticed that you’d left without grabbing your coat. She snatched it off the coat wrack before putting her own coat on, and strutted out the cursed house, slamming the door in her wake just as you had. 

It was dusk. The gray sky that had been casting over the entire day still remained, but now the wind swirled angrily with a mixture of fluttering snowflakes. She glanced around, trying to get her bearings. There was a faint layer of snow on the ground. She could just barely make out your footprints leading up the path of the hill. 

_Oh, the things she would do for you._

She let out a huff, gripped her opened bottle of wine tighter, and began her stead march after you. After a few minutes of hiking up the hill, she came to a clearing at the top. Nestled away in the corner was a stone cabin. The lights were already on, and she could see smoke rising from the chimney. In front of it, there was a pond, crystal clear but completely frozen over. The moon shone down on it, reflecting off the crystals that formed. Then, there was you. You stood tall looking out in front of it silently. You must’ve been cold, but you didn’t show it. 

She approached you quietly from behind and came to stand next to you. You knew she was there, but you made no move to acknowledge her. You stayed still, chin high, eyes closed, breathing in the fresh air deeply. 

“I just can’t wrap my head around it. I knew he loved Lyall like a son, but…” you dropped your head and turned to her slightly. “How can he sit there and belittle us like that?” Your eyes found her’s. “He wasn’t always like this.” 

Zelda didn’t have the answers. At least not the answers you needed. ‘ _Some people are just arrogant bastards’_ wasn’t going to help you. 

“I brought your coat.” She offered it to you, you took it. 

“And I stole their wine.” 

You laughed weakly at that, but genuinely. “Brilliant.” 

“I did warn you that my parents were arseholes.” You said, shrugging on the wool-lined article. 

“Yes, but if I wasn’t here, you wouldn’t have anyone right now.” 

“I suppose you’re right.” 

“Of course I am.” You rolled your eyes at her and took a swig straight out of the bottle. Zelda did the same. 

“I used to ice skate on this pond. I put a permanent freezing charm on it. One of the first spells I ever casted.” 

“I’ve never been ice skating.” Zelda mused. You let out a gasp. 

_Never been ice skating? How is that even possible? When you were young there wasn’t much else to do._

“Well, we’ll have to change that, won’t we, My Belle?”

“No, I don’t think we will.” She dismissed coyly. But you weren’t going to let this drop that easily. You took the cool bottle of red wine out of her hand and set it carefully on the flat spot of the ground. When you wrapped your arm around her like you were going to waltz with her, she let out a breath laugh. 

“What do you think you're doing? I’m not as young as I once was…” Her voice trailed off as a little, eyes glancing down to watch her step as you led her to the ice. 

As soon as you made it to the solid ice, you muttered a replacement charm. Zelda eyed you wearily, but then let out a yelp when she almost crashed to the ground. She clearly wasn’t ready for you to magic ice skates onto her feet. Luckily you held onto her, a big smile on your face. 

You took two backwards steps until you were on the ice, hands still holding hers. “Come on, Zelda, it’s not that hard.” 

She rolled her eyes, but seemed to accept that she was going to lose this battle. She carefully took one foot and stepped carefully onto the slick ice. When she tried to get the other on, she almost slipped, but you held her up.

“Just hang onto me.” You skated backwards a little until you both were in the center of the pond. Zelda tried her best to mirror your movements. The moon was very bright tonight, despite the snow flurries and gray overcast. You could see your witch perfectly. 

You let go of her left hand, letting her right hand grips yours. You slowly started to move forwards. When Zelda tried she wobbled terribly. 

“You make this look easy.” 

“I’m feeling rusty, actually. But when I was a kid this was how I used to take my mind off things.” You skated along, pulling her gently as you went. The breeze brushed past you, snowflakes were getting stuck in your hair. The wine was doing you favors by keeping you warm, but you could feel all grace leaving you on the ice. 

You came to a rest in front of her after a few minutes of sliding along the ice. All that could be heard was the blades slowly cutting the slick surface.

“You’re getting the hang of it. Maybe I should let you go?” She tried to protest, but you had already moved away from her, gliding backwards with your hands folded behind you. You gave her an encouraging smile and ebbed her on to come after you. She tried her best, arms spread wide for balance. Surprisingly, you both made it to the edge without slipping.

The snow had piled up a good deal since you’d ventured outside. It was beautifully calm and blanketed just about everything. You took one foot off the ice, but wobbled. Your hand slipped from Zelda’s. With nothing help to anchor you back down, and you went tumbling down into the snow. 

You landed face first with an oomph. “Fuckin hell.” You ground out, trying to find your bearings. You heard an angelic laugh from above you.

_She’s laughing at you._

_You honestly didn’t expect any less from her._

“Are you okay?” She squeezed out between stifled giggles. They weren’t very girlish, but they were foreign coming from Zelda. You turned your head now, your hair falling down into your eyes and sputtered the snow out of your mouth. Zelda was trying her best to keep her balance while simultaneously reaching a hand out to you. 

“I’m fine. Just frozen.” You replied breathlessly, turning over onto your backside, not quite ready to stand again. Zelda’s hand finally gripped yours to haul you up. When she tried, you couldn’t center your gravity in time, and you thumped back to the ground, Zelda flying down after you. 

She landed right on top of you with a yelp. You felt your air get knocked out of you. Your hands gripped onto her shoulders, pushing her off you enough so you could look at her, a look of amusement creeping to your face when you saw she was okay. 

“I don’t think we should try this again, do you?” You breathed it.

“It was your idea.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“It was fun at first. Now I’m being held down in the snow by an uncoordinated witch.” You quipped out. 

“Uncoordinated? You fell first.” 

“I know.”

————————————

Zelda, lucky for her, had managed to protect her clothing from getting too wet. You however, hadn’t been so lucky. You were drenched when you made it into the fire-warmed air of the small cabin. You ripped off your coat and boots with a shudder. Zelda turned to you now, concern written on her face.

“Your lips are turning blue.” A glint caught in her eye as her hands came to feel your sopping clothes at the collar of your beige shirt. You saw her eyes trail down towards where the now transparent material let a peak of your deep blue brassier show. Her eyes flicked back up to you before her tongue swept across her bottom lip. “The fire is going out, I’ll add some logs. You need to take these wet clothes off.” She suggested.

If not for your already pink cheeks, you were sure you’d be blushing prominently. 

There were no walls in the cabin, it was only held up by a few support beams. You turned to where the bed sat in the corner with your bags sitting on it. Without looking back you headed over to it, and began fitfully shuffling through the thing for something decent to wear. You pulled out your old sleep shirt and some shorts and laid them in the bed. You then began attempting to unbutton your shivering top with daft fingers. 

Zelda must’ve creeped up on you, because you felt her hot breath on your neck unexpectedly. It sent chills down your spine. Her hands snaked their way around your waist to nimbly finish the remaining buttons of your blouse off for you. You leaned into her grasp. When she was done, she helped you shrug off the article, manicured fingers gently brushing down your lean arms. You went to grab the tee off the bed, but she stopped you with whispered breath. 

“Do you really think you’ll be needing that, Hesper?” She placed a sumptuous open mouthed kiss at the back of your shoulder, exactly where her name was permanently tattooed across your skin. Her tongue danced across the sensitive marking there. Your entire body shivered and was set aflame at the same time. Your knees almost completely buckled against the bed as you let out the tiniest moan. 

You turned around to look at her head on. When you did, you realized she had already removed her shoes, skirt, and completely unbuttoned her own blouse before approaching you. You felt your breath hitch a little. 

“I guess not. It’s only fair.” She smirked at you. It was then that you realized how close you were to the bed behind you. She backed you up until the back of your legs hit the soft quilt atop it, shrugging off the thin white blouse as she went. It landed in the pile of discarded clothing behind her. 

Your eyes skimmed her milky white arms, occasionally speckled with light brown freckles, all the way up to her auburn red hair. You felt warm fingers at the skin of your belly button grip the fabric there tightly. She unbuttoned them then slowly ran her hands up the length of your body until coming to your shoulders. 

You kissed her then, sweetly at first, your lips finding her delectably soft. She opened her mouth a little to you. This pleasantly surprised you, and you drew your tongue across her bottom lip. You felt her respond vehemently, it was a trap. Her teeth caught your bottom lip delicately and she sucked gently on the plush skin there while pushing your shoulders back towards the soft bedding behind you. She had you at her will, you couldn’t fight the cushioned fall as she climbed on top of you and continued her fierce attack on your full lips. You let out a surprised laugh through her passionate kiss. 

Her hands moved down to remove your pants all the way. You let her tug them off you, hands sliding against your supple skin. You watched Zelda’s dark eyes take in your olive tones and midnight blue lace that hugged your hips. She climbed back on top of you, knees planting at either side of your hips. Her kisses trailed from the corner of your mouth, down your long neck, to finally suck at your beauty mark just above your collarbone. Her right hand gripped at your rib cage as you sucked in a gasp of air in response, while the other settled with slipping into your silky brown hair. When you let out a gasp, the hand slid down to play with the hem of your underwear. 

You felt your hand grip tighter at her arm at that. The other one snaked around to her back. You shifted the weight of your leg a little before being able to flip Zelda over onto her back. Her eyes found yours then, a question on her lips. You kissed the words away before softly reminding her to trust you. 

Your right hand was able to sneak around her back and unlatch the hooks there. She helped shrug the lacey fabric off, your lips still on hers. 

Your hand slipped down between your bodies to graze teasingly against the only fabric left on her. At a single touch she let out a moan, surprising herself. You quirked an eyebrow at her then. It seemed as though you both thought that she’d be slightly less sensitive.

You smirked a little, before continuing your open mouthed kisses down her jaw to her neck. All the while, your finger caught the hem of her lace and slipped inside. You ran your finger along the skin there, content as her hands gripped at your back and waist. You rubbed more fully, but not too hard that you struck sensuality. Your lips found a favorite spot just below her earlobe to leave a mark and easily slipped one finger in between her welcome folds. You stopped when she let out another thrilling groan. Her eyes flashed dangerously at you.

“Stop teasing me.” You laughed a little at her commanding words. She hardly seemed to be in a position of commanding anything. Knowing Zelda, though, that was _never_ true. 

“But that’s half the fun.” You spoke to her in a low voice. You took a moment to move again, trying to gauge her reaction. When you supposedly took too long, she rocked her hips fully against your hand. Your eyes widened a little, but you decided to listen to her after all. You slipped off the lace clinging to her down her legs. 

You moved down to the junction of her thighs. Both your hands gripped her hips and planted a hot mouthed kiss at her sensitive bud. You used your tongue to split her folds and drew the delicate muscle up the entire length there. Her moan was like music to your ears.

You moved away from the area just for a moment, instead kissing everywhere but where she wanted; at the crease of her thigh, the crest of her lips, just below her belly button. You returned again, flicking your tongue twice before taking her fully in your plush lips and tongue. You slipped one long finger in again, then another, and pumped twice before curling them around her walls. She writhed under your grasp. 

You continued the movements with your dexterous right hand but drew your mouth away, leaving the area starving for warmth. She had her eyes tightly shut, her lips slightly parted in pleasure. The covers on the bed were bunched where her hands were tightly gripping them. You just barely notice her soulmate mark peeking out under the straining muscle of her arm. With your left hand, you gripped her wrist and pinned it above her head. 

The scar there looked far better. It was no longer an angry pink but a faint white line. You kissed it hungrily, your right hand still working, and Zelda let out a bright moan of pleasure. The sensitive skin there must’ve left her wonderfully enthralled as her free hand now clawed desperately at your back. You started using your full weight to rock your fingers deeper and deeper within her.

Zelda’s hips rolled into your movements. You pulled away from her soulmate mark and returned your mouth down back down. You could feel her clenching around you as her back arched up. She let out gasping groans and a quiet string of curses. She gripped your hair with her hand and locked her legs around you as you brought her to her climax and drank her up. 

After a moment she released you and pulled you up towards her, breathless, with a small smile forming on her face. You kissed her lovingly, letting her taste your lips now, you hand coming up to brush away her hair. 

She pulled away just enough. “Why didn’t we have sex sooner?” 

“I’m not quite sure. Probably little reasons.” You replied truthfully. You both had been busy, exhausted, or too timid to make this happen between you. But now that could change.

“Well I could get used to this, regardless of your vexing coquettish. And I think…” her hand reached around to your back, fingers toying with the clasp of your bra, “This should come off.” She unclipped it, sliding it’s straps over your shoulders. 

Zelda rolled you over, landing on top of you once more and removing the article in one foul swoop. 

You smirked. “If you insist, My Belle.” 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapters coming soon <3

There was a woman walking towards you. Despite all the darkness, she’d shone like a light. She was tall and strong like a warrior, but divinely feminine. Even though you’d never seen this woman before, you recognized her. You’d known her since before your birth, and you’d know her after your death.

_Hecate._

You felt yourself drop to the ground to kneel, as if on instinct. Your palms gripped at the nothingness below you. For some reason, though, you weren’t afraid. 

“Unbow your head, daughter.” Your eyes rose to the sound of her overcoming voice. 

“You have saddened me, daughter, but your resolve is strong. I understand why you falsified worship to Lucifer.” 

“I’m sorry, Hecate.” Your felt remorse strike through your heart. You should have listened to your mother all these years about the divine goddess, about Marie, about your studies. 

“I know you are. But the time has come for your declaration. You are an Amazon, my champion. You must show your devotion, for I have allowed you to taste your greatest desire.” 

Immediately your witch's beautiful face formed in your mind. You wanted her here with you right now. 

“Zelda?”

The goddess nodded slowly. 

“Your soulmate is as keen as you are, daughter. You shan’t lose her, should you will it. But the time has come for you to fulfill your duty.” 

You knew immediately what she meant. 

“You speak of Pithos.”   
  


“Without Pithos, the powers of the cosmic will misalign and death will befall your realm. It is your destiny to retrieve it.” 

“I don’t know where it is, Hecate. It was stolen.” You voiced wavered slightly as you spoke. Your head fell slightly, not wanting to meet her disappointment. 

“Your every action has led you so far, daughter. Trust your abilities, trust your navigation, trust your heart. These things will guide you.” She finished, her voice fading out. You could see her leaving you, the light warmth simmering out even quicker than it appeared.

“Wait! I don’t understand-“ you couldn’t finish before everything faded away. 

….

You awoke with a start, shooting straight up in the bed. You whipped around, eyeing the dark cabin around you, your eyes desperately trying to adjust to the dim lighting. Zelda was still sleeping soundly next to you. You both were still completely naked. The hours before had been thrilling and full of pleasure, but now it was desolate, chilling, frightful. If not for her next to you, your heart would be pounding out of your chest. 

_You realized, just a few hours ago, that you love her._

_You might’ve even told her, in the midst of coming, but you didn’t think either of you noticed._

You tore your eyes away from her sleeping form and casted them back out to the room. The fire was about to go out, only red embers remaining. You got up from the bed, careful not to disturb Zelda, and quietly walked over to the hearth. Grabbing two logs, you placed them on the fire as quietly as possible. It roared to life. 

You glanced at the clock standing next to the altar. It was midnight twenty five minutes past midnight. You didn’t think anything of it for a moment, and then your brain fog cleared. 

‘Fuck. That damned _golem.’_

Your thoughts jumped about panicking. Your animatee could be anywhere by now. You rushed to the bed again and threw on your trousers and whatever shirt you could find. You hauled on your boots with great difficulty and slipped on your wool-lined coat at the speed of light. You were reaching for the door handle, but you glanced back over to where your watch was sitting on your bedside table. What made you pause was Zelda, though. She was still asleep, blissfully unaware that you were going out in the cold in the middle of the night. You couldn’t bring yourself to wake her up, to force her into the freezing outdoors. She was better off here anyways. If you had any way to leave a message for her, you would’ve, but you didn’t. 

Your hand gripped the door handle and headed out without a noise. The air was completely still, not a breeze or snowflake in the air. You took a step out, your hot air puffing out in front of your eyes. 

Across the way, standing at the neck of the path, was a tall sturdy figure. Your eyes narrowed and stride faltered.

_What is it doing here? Is it waiting for you?_

Normally golems mindlessly work straight towards their duty. This was strange. You moved forward cautiously.

A thought drifted into your mind, a thought that mentioned how accurately your clay golem resembled the outline of Hecate. The strength in its stance, its steadfastness, it’s faintly feminine curvatures in its pottery-like design. The thought blossomed into some illogical trust for it.

You arrived in front of it, it’s gaze casting down at you. The carvings in its figure were familiar. You’d grown up with it working on the farm, watching out for you in the distance.

“Do you remember what happened, _Pistós?”_

_‘Pistós’- Hellenic for ‘loyal one’. It’s what your mother always called them._

It’s head moved up and down stiffly. 

You bit your lip, brows furrowing. “Can you lead me to the Pithos?” 

It stood for a moment, like it was considering your question. Instead of responding, it turned, taking one heavy step towards the path which led to the road. You followed it down the familiar trail until you arrived at the bottom of the hill at your family’s cobble car park. It was continuing on towards the road. It occurred to you then that following it blindly may take you ages. The Pithos could be anywhere. It could be sitting at the bottom of the ocean for all you knew. 

“Wait.” You ordered. The golem stopped immediately. “How far is it?” It stared at you. You realized then that it couldn’t answer questions like that. You cursed yourself, taking a deep breath and turning your head to the dark sky before refocusing on the animatee. 

“Could you point it out. Like on a map, or at the very least the direction?” You knew how stupid you sounded, talking to a damned rock. Of course it couldn’t know-

But it nodded. It pointed to your pocket. You stared at it, dumbfounded, your hands reaching into the pocket of your coat. A part of you hoped the Pithos itself would be sitting in there, but it wasn’t, of course. What was in there was a bit of parchment. You grasped the wad and yanked it out. 

You shuffled through it. A receipt from the pub, some scrap paper, the picture of Zelda you pocketed, and a travel sized map of Dinan. It was the map Zelda had made you bring along on your trip. She insisted it may come in handy and stubbornly shoved it into your coat pocket when you wouldn’t take it. You stopped on it, your gaze rising back to the golem. 

_How did it even know that was in there? You didn’t even remember it was in there, really._

You unfolded it and came to hold it in front of the statue-like creature expectantly. The golem blankly regarded the paper for a few moments. You were about to give up, already accepting defeat, when it’s hand rose. The sculpted index finger rested gently on a pointed part of the map, leaving prominent terracotta smudge in its wake. 

Your mind took a minute to process. The Pithos was supposedly at the old cemetery.

“You’re sure?” It nodded. 

_It wasn’t that far. You could just go and check things out, return before dawn._

The truck was still parked out front, you realized. The keys would be left in it. You rushed over to the vehicle without a second thought, dropping the map where you stood. You swung the car door open. When you hopped inside the old leather let out a dusty puff.

You were going to find Pandora's Box. You could protect everyone, that was all that mattered. 

—————————————-

The graveyard was the same as always; cold, silent, gloomy. In the breezeless night it almost seemed peaceful. You stepped out of the truck and glanced around. You had no idea where to start. There was nothing amiss, no broken branches, no stone unturned. The gateway was quietly humming with the same potential energy as always. You continued slowly past it. 

_Maybe the golem was wrong. Maybe it had no idea what it was talking about._

It was entirely possible that it was just trying to please you. Any answer was better than no answer in its eyes. 

But then something peculiar happened. A breeze— a breeze on a perfectly breezeless night— rushed past you, blowing your hair briskly to your East. You got chills. The wind carried the intones of a whispered voice. The voice’s subtle magnificence was familiar. It was the voice from your dream.

 _‘The mausoleum.’_ It sung to you. You sucked in a deep breath, suddenly filled with deep-seated purpose. You kept moving forward, this time with confidence in your stride, letting the breeze urge you forward. You made it far into the cemetery, within the grove where no soul had ventured for centuries. It was the only structure other than simple tombstone resided. The stonework seemed ancient now, cracks and vines ruinous to its structure. It’s very entryway had been bashed, as if it were cracked open ruthlessly. 

Out of habit, you went to check your watch, glancing at your left wrist. It wasn’t there. You’d left it. You’d left it because you were worried about Zelda. You mentally cursed yourself for being so brash in your decisions. You shouldn’t have left her there. What if she woke up and found the bed empty? 

When your eyes rose away from your bare wrist to the sky, absolutely fed up with yourself, you felt a wave of energy wash over you. Your muscles tensed and your eyes rolled back into your head. 

There she was again, deep within your mind’s eye. 

_‘This will be difficult, daughter. It will be dangerous. I should have warned you…’_

_You felt strong hands wrap around your being. They soothed you like only a woman’s touch could._

‘ _You are doing well, my child. Continue forward, the sacrifices you pay will be worthy of victory. Do not falter now.’_

Someone calling out your name pulled you out of your trance. You felt your energies return to an equilibrium as you batted your unfocused eyes. 

“Hesper! What in Satan’s name are you doing here?” You came to your senses when you felt two much more real hands grasp your shoulders tightly, whipping you around with the force of a hundred men. You were met with the most viperous expression to ever contort on Zelda Spellman’s beautiful features. 

Unfortunately for you, you were quite sure you’d gone cross eyed at the unexpected whiplash. You felt a little dazed still, although Hecate’s words had emboldened you. The heel of your palm reached up to brace your temple.

“What?” You breathed out. 

Zelda took in your state, concern creasing on her brow. Her grasp lightened on you. “Why are you here all by yourself?” She spoke a little softer, clearly still agitated, though. 

You were finally coming to your senses, the breeze was back, tugging you toward the structure behind you, but you ignored it. Just for a moment for Zelda. “The golem came. It showed me where the Pithos was. You were asleep. H-how did you get here?”

“You left your map. Did you honestly think I’d just let you disappear into the night?”

“I thought I’d be back before you woke up.” 

Zelda rolled her eyes, as you’d seen her do many times. “Hesper, whatever stole that box is powerful enough to have ripped your golems to shreds. You can’t possibly think now is the time to take it on alone. What were you thinking?” 

Your eyes widened a little, the realization hitting you. Hecate’s words ricocheted around in your brain like a banshee’s warning.

_‘Difficult… dangerous… sacrifice…’_

_No, no, no, no. Zelda would not be going after the Pithos with you, or anyone else for that matter. This had to be done alone and it had to be done now._

Your eyes locked onto Zelda’s face. Your hands moved to cup the side of her face, her cheeks now pink from the cold.

“You’re right, it is dangerous.” You paused, just for a chance to take in every detail of her. She was focused on you, enamored even. Almost like the night you first spoke with her. “But it’s also no one else’s problem but mine. I’m going to retrieve the Pithos alone _.”_

She pulled away from your grasp, her stormy expression taking hold once more. “You have no idea what you’re going up against. You can’t possibly-“ 

“I can and I will.” 

“Why are you trying to risk your life for this? We can find another prison for Lucifer.” 

She realized she wasn’t convincing you. You’d turned around on your heels and began bounding away determined. She threw her hand out. Your feet were stuck to the frozen ground. “If you go in there you will die, Hesper.” She rose her voice, forcing you to hear her stern warning.

You clenched your jaw. “Release me now.” 

She didn’t, she held you frozen in place. 

“You’re being ridiculous.” She hissed out. She was frustrated with you. She wouldn’t be, if you could tell her the whole truth, but you couldn’t. 

_‘Oh yeah Zeda, a powerful Goddess visited me in my dream so now I’m following a prophecy written on a scroll as old as time. Please let me go risk my life now so that I can help save the entire realm from doom.’_

You murmured a counter spell. A powerful one. It only weakened Zelda’s impressive body-binding enchantment, but you used your own might to force yourself out of it. You fell to your knees, but caught yourself, and sprung up and turned to Zelda again. You stalked over to her, lips tight, eyebrows furrowed, fighting against the wind that only seemed to be affecting you. You got close to her, so close that your toes were almost touching. She stood tall, determined, stubborn, her expression mirroring yours. 

Your voice was low and dangerous. You’d have to force the words out, you didn’t want to rope her into this mess of yours more. But Zelda deserved an explanation, a real one.

you sucked in a deep breath. “There is magic at play here that I can’t even begin to explain. Cosmic powers and destinys that have been spelt out for millennia.”  
Your face changed a little, a small frown taking place. “If I don’t do this... there isn’t even a chance we will survive what’s to come.” You finished, your eyes searching Zelda’s light gray ones for a reaction, even a glint of understanding.

Zelda didn’t speak. It was uncharacteristic of her, she always had to get the last word. Her brow only furrowed more, her vicious disbelief in you wading, instead replaced by desperation. Or maybe it was her resentment that she was, indeed, going to lose this battle. Resentment that she might lose _you._

“If you don’t let me do this…” your tongue flicked out to wet your suddenly dry lips.

“... if you follow me in, if you come back for me, if you _ever_ step foot within this grove again, I’ll never forgive you, Zelda.” You hated the way those abhorrent words sounded coming out of your mouth. You wished there was an easier way to do this. 

Her eyes squinted with concern. When she spoke, her voice was gravelly with hidden emotion. “You’re going to die there if you go alone.” She reminded you again.

“I might… I might not, too.” You replied gently. 

“Either way, you are going to go back to Greendale, to your coven and your family, and you are going to carry on. You are going to rebuild what was destroyed so that you are all strong again. And you will not sulk or mourn me or wilt away, do you understand?” It was so unbelievably hard for you to send her away like this. To give her permission to let you go should you die. But she had responsibilities, a family, and a coven to look after. 

Her hand gripped yours tightly. Surprisingly, she nodded. Her feeling of loss and worry were evident in her manner. 

You gave her a small smile, knowing it wouldn’t help. “I’ll be okay. I’ll come back to you.” 

Her lip trembled a little. It broke your heart. She was normally so composed, so in control, and you were making her feel this way. It stung you deep in your core. It felt like you were betraying everything she gave to you. Her trust, her mind, her body.

“Go back to the estate and get your things. Then go straight to the portal. Don’t come back here.” 

Zelda nodded, but made no move to leave. She took a moment, conflicted, hesitant, but then wrapped her arms around you, burying her head against your neck. You were a little shocked by the show of affection, honestly, but you wrapped your arms around her too. You breathed in her in, memorizing the feel of her embracing you like this.

_You didn’t think Zelda hugged anyone. Ever._

She spoke against your ear, “If you die, I’m going to kill you.”

_Ah there it was. The loving death threat you were waiting for._

Zelda stepped away from you, head held high, shoulders squared, but a longing looking at her face. It was comical in a way, watching your lover leave you with nothing more than a small nod. You’d told her to go, though. A nod was all you deserved. 

You arrived at the entrance to the mausoleum, the breeze egging you on. The stonework upclose reminded you of the many ancient ruins you’d studied in Greece. You strained your eyes into the darkness before you. It was an unwelcoming kind, like the energy was warding you off. There was nothing stopping you from taking that first step inside, though.

It was an unnerving place. It was very, very dark. The kind of darkness that filled grown witches with fear. The only thing keeping you grounded was the stone floor beneath you. You continued forward, the breeze had left you, you prayed for some sort of guidance, some sort of comfort in this place. As if on cue, you turned a corner and saw a light at the end of a long hallway. It did little for your vision but it did lead you down the path. 

_This place is bigger than you thought it was._

You made it to the light. It didn’t appear to be anything at all; not a torch, or a lantern, or even a ball of fire. It was just an orb. When you reached out, it was startling familiar, but the light vanished. You swallowed the fear that rose within you.

The next step you took sent you spiraling. You couldn’t move forward, but all your thoughts rushed in and out at once. Your mouth became dry like sand, your body felt weak. You shut your eyes, praying for relief. When it didn’t come, your next thought was about Zelda. You prayed to Hecate and all your ancestors that she was okay. You could almost mistake your life force slipping away as casting it to her, like light, like a blanket.

“You’re stronger than you look Scythian.” A woman’s voice rang through your consciousness clearly, drawing you out of your trance. No… it wasn’t in your mind, it was coming from in front of you. And it wasn’t English at all, but ancient Hellenic. You’d hardly heard it spoken before, you were surprised you even recognized it.

You felt like you were starving, it was an unearthly feeling of emptiness. You’d only thought you’d taken a few steps, though. Your muscles were weak and your mind was fuzzy. It felt like you had been standing still for ages, wasting away, but somehow all at once. 

“What’s happening? How long have I been here?” You rasped out. 

“You’re in my tomb Scythian. I control the time here. It can be seconds or years if I want. I can keep you tetoring on the brink of starvation for centuries in this reality.” You tried not to seem boggled by her words. Or fearful. In fact, you figured you’d just do better to try and _not_ understand.

“A warlock came here, months ago. He came here for a box and then he died.” Your vocal cords were strained. Your train of thought wavered dangerously. 

“That man was pathetic. He deserved death. He stole from me. He stole Pithos.”

_This is Pandora, then._

“Why do you still care about Pithos? Why do you hold onto it?”

“I am the reason for the world’s demise because of Pithos. The box is dangerous. I must not let it do more harm. If you take it from me, I’ll kill you too, Scythian.” 

You heard metal clink loudly against the stone floor. The cobalt whipped upwards in the darkness, and violently wrapped around your wrists. You hissed out, your muscles straining against the force of them, you rocked forward. You heard a second set writhe towards you forcefully. The cold metal gripped your ankles, pulling you down to your knees. The rough rocks tore open your flesh then. You hissed out in pain. 

“There is another version of the story though.” You spoke through the darkness breathlessly, eyes searching for the floating spirit of the woman. “You may not know it, but it’s written in stone just the same. It says that _hope_ still resides in the box. That it never escaped.”

You found her then, only because she rushed into your view, her force forcing your back, the chains pulled tighter. Her energy sent the torches alight brighter. You could see her illuminecence now in the dim light. She was furious. 

“Your words mean little here, Scythian.” You caught the glimpse of your dagger slide out of its sheath situated at your waists. Her dead hand gripped it tightly and pointed it mercilessly at your throat. You saw her eyes flicker with desperation momentarily. 

_Was it possible she was acting out of fear?_

You swallowed. 

“... I know you’re scared. You don’t trust yourself. But, I do trust you. And I have faith that the box can be used for more than just destruction.” You tried your best to remain strong. Sounding desperate wouldn’t help you.

“Is this ‘hope’ the reason you’ve withstood my torment this far? Your unloved one couldn’t.” The spirit queried, her voice neutral.

you thought swiftly. Rummaging through your mind for anything that would help.

“In a way. I have something with me that gives me hope. It is a picture of my love, I keep it in my pocket. Would you like to see it?” 

The spirit eyed you wearily before slowly reaching into your wool-line pocket. You felt her grasp the photo and pull it out. She examined it, her eyes softening at the beautiful picture of Zelda. 

She didn’t speak for a long while. She was enamored with the photo. It _was_ a good picture. Finally, the spirit turned to you again.

“You’re at a crossroads for your fate. I can tell.” She began wistfully. “This moment is the turning point. For you, and for many. I know that withholding Pithos from you will take an unnecessary toll on the fabric of the universe. Unnecessary lives will be lost. But if I do give it to you, I fear it will be me who pays the toll; guilt and loss.” 

You nodded in understanding, your eyes softening. 

“Pandora, if you give me the box, you will be freed from its ties. You can go forward, freely, knowing that the mistakes of the past will be atoned for.” 

You heaved in a desperate breath of air. “I can use it for good.” 

“Hope is a funny thing, I think. Your unloved one couldn’t show me what it was. And then you gave up the one you love most, but you still have her, deep down, and I can see it clearly. It’s silly.” 

You didn’t know how to respond to her, but thankfully the spirit of the young woman continued on. 

“Your unloved one had no hope, Scythian, did you know that? He frightened me. He made me feel my own despondency, my own regret.” She hissed out but then rounded on your figure. “But you, _you_ are much different from him, I can see that now. Tell me, Scythian, is your Love, here, what you hope for most in the world?” 

You nodded weakly. 

“But you came for the box to help many, you say?” 

“I did.” 

“That’s what I see in you… you’re good. You won’t ruin things like I did.” Her chains tightened around you, you didn’t think she knew she was doing it. She was still staring done at the picture of Zelda. You let out a scream of pain at the chains violently pulled and compressed your delicate skin. You heard something pop in your shoulder, followed by a hot swelling pain that coursed through your body. 

Her head snapped to you at your exclamation. Her expression was still fiery, but the cobalt dropped from your limbs. You fell to the jagged ground again.

“We’ll trade.” Her voice rang. “I’m keeping this photograph. You take the box and leave. Never return.” As your eyes rose, your shaken brain trying to make sense of your surroundings, you saw the wooden chest come into sight in front of you. As you moved to grab it, you could feel your body filling with a semblance of energy once more, but not much. You gripped it as tightly as you could. Your wrists were split and bruised, your shoulder throbbed dangerously. Every jostle as you drug your battered knees up sent a wave of pain. If not for your tightly laced leather boots, the ones Zelda hated, you would surely not be able to stand. 

“Thank-“ you began. But you were interrupted.

“I said leave, Scythian!” You flinched, but did as you were told. Just then the light orb appeared again, you followed it weakly all the way to the exit. Without it, you were sure you would’ve fallen, you would’ve been lost in the tomb forever.

————————————

Zelda had done as you said. She’d gotten her things, traveled through the gateway, and arrived back at Spellman Manor. She understood that there was no way in hell she could’ve changed your mind, she vaguely gathered that you were doing something abhorrently heroic for the good of ‘all’, and she _knew_ that she just let you waltz into the face of danger, all by yourself.

After everything the two of you had been through, after she gave herself to you fully, consummated the bond, _that’s_ when you decided it was time for you both to part ways and head into death’s grip. 

You had honestly forced her to let you go. The thought made her blood boil as she stomped up the pathway to Spellman Manor, bags in tow. She’d packed your things up too, without a second thought. She’d hoped that you'd want them back later. 

You did promise her that you’d come back. Zelda grasped your watch tighter unconsciously. You’d left it on the table by the bed. She stopped in her tracks and looked at it carefully, suddenly overcome with the urge to put it on. She did, fumbling with the straps as you always had, and bucked the leather tight. She felt a blanket of relief wash over her, as if a calming spell had been placed on her. 

_Regardless of what happens, she’d keep on with her life like you wanted her to, and then you’d come back like you promised._

She sucked in an unsteady breath and continued up the wooden steps of the Mortuary. She’d miss you terribly if you didn’t get back soon, though.

It was sun high out, the coven must’ve been eating lunch. Zelda felt a wave of sadness standing outside the door of the mortuary. It was where you and her almost kissed. Her hand unknowingly reached up to ghost over her lips. Unlike last time, no one barged through to greet her. She grasped the door handle and strode in, shutting the heavy oak door behind her. She heard chattering coming from the dining room and Hilda’s voice carried over to trill out something excitedly. 

A moment later, the blonde witch came barreling through the entryway with a big smile on her face, apron swishing about her skirts. Zelda tried her best to look pleased to see her but she couldn’t muster it. She dropped her bags. Hilda’s face fell a little, a look of confusion forming. 

“Zelds, love, so happy to see you home.” She chirped happily, glancing around her older sister's shoulder to look for you. 

“Where’s Hesper?” She asked. 

Zelda remained composed and cleared her throat dutifully. “She needed to go retrieve an artifact alone. One that could help us with our… pressing issues.” 

“Oh okay. That makes sense, it's just… why, exactly, do you have her bags?” 

“It was a last-minute-“ before Zelda could finish her sentence, she was being tackled down by an enormous dark figure and promptly attacked by a wet slobbery tongue. Instead of being belligerently infuriated with the untrained beast, she was relieved to see him. 

_Oh thank Hell, Gus is still doing okay. That should be a good sign._

Hilda hauled Gus off her sister with all her strength, trying to stifle her giggles. “Someone must’ve missed you Zelds.” 

….

Zelda thought it couldn’t be so bad. Surley, she continued on like this for a few days, even though she already missed you. She slept in your bed that night. The comforting smell of your old tees and bedsheets did little to soothe her. Gus slept with her, his head at her feet, clearly as despondent as she. 

The next morning Zelda decided to reopen the Academy of Unseen arts. She could start rebuilding, and in the process, _not_ be reminded of every moment you two shared together in that damned house. The reopening was a gesture of moving on, just like you’d suggested.

Hilda did notice that something was off with Zelda, but simply assumed it was the fact that soulmates never really did all that well when they weren’t together. That was what she thought it was at least, until Gus didn’t eat his kibble one morning at the academy. 

Zelda had a full-blown episode. The dog just laid there on the floor, uncharacteristically lethargic, while Zelda cried in hysterics. Hilda had to haul Zelda off the Great Dane once she calmed down some. She sat her sister down on the plush sofa, dutifully made some lavender tea with honey, and wrapped the distressed witch in a nice warm blanket. 

Zelda confided in Hilda about everything. You, apparently, were on some dangerous mission and had refused to let Zelda come along. Hilda thought that Zelda had been handling it all remarkably well, when she took that all into consideration. There was your absence, the stress of the Academy opening back up, and the trouble with Lucifer’s antics all bogging Zelda down. But Hilda’s big sister had kept a strong face for the sake of them all. Then, as always, people reach their breaking point. Gus getting sick simply tipped her over the edge. 

“Oh Zelds, I know it’s hard, but Hesper is probably fine. Familiars get funky when they are away from their masters for too long, that’s all. I’m sure she’ll be back soon.” 

“But what if she doesn’t return? What if she…” Zelda’s breath hitched, “...dies out there? The only way I would know is because Gus-“ 

“Zelda Phiona Spellman, I know for damn sure Hesper wouldn’t want you thinking like that. Have some faith in her.” Hilda interrupted sternly. She always was able to pull Zelda out of her ruts.

Zelda rested her head in her hand defeatedly. 

“I know and I do. But every day it gets a little harder. Especially with everything else going on in this disquieting coven.”

Gus continued to fall more ill in the few days that followed. It worried Zelda terribly, but she had her coven to look after. Their magic was waning, making them vulnerable. She had to fix that before they were caught at their weakest. 

Zelda was beginning to feel very, very alone. You were missing in action, Sabrina was apparently serving successfully as the Queen of Hell, and Hilda had just sprung her engagement on her. The only company that truly understood how she was feeling was Gus, who laid lamely next to her statue of Vinegar Tom. He missed you just as much as she did, ironically enough. 

However, things were turning up just now, when Sabrina returned with the celestial blood. The Spellman family was back at the Mortuary. Hilda had just come up with a way to absorb lunar energies by bathing in the light of the Hare Moon. Luncacy, she knew, but it could just work. 

“So be it.” Zelda stood up from her chair in the sitting room. “Picnic first and then this so-called moon bath. And don’t break your arm patting yourself on your back, Sister. You’ve still got work to do.” 

Hilda paused, piecing together what her sister was implying. “Oh, right. Give me the blood, Love, and I will start pressing the anointing oil.” 

Zeda thanked both Hilda and Sabrina. They froze as if Zelda had grown two heads. _She thanked people... sometimes. Lilith, save her, these witches were so..._ _Oh Hell, just go with it._

“If this works, the entire coven will be in your debt.” Zelda explained, still genuine. Sabrina smiled proudly at her auntie’s words. She took a deep drag of her cigarette, it’s fumes filling her lungs delightfully. 

Then, unexpectedly, Gus jumped up from his sitting position, full of life. He let out an excitable bark before taking off brashly through the house towards the front door. Zelda’s eyes widened, her thoughts jumping from conclusion to conclusion and she rushed after the gargantuan canine. Gus had stood up on his hind legs to scratch at the front door, but she managed to shove him off and swing it open, all the while holding a hopeful breath.

_Please. Please be out there. Tell me you’ve come back home to me._


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapters in the works <3

Zelda swung open the front door of Spellman Mortuary, wide eyed and baited breath. You were clinging to the railing of the wooden stairs leading up to the landing. Your head was bowed down clear exhaustion, and if not for the support, you surely would’ve collapsed already. Your arm hung limp at your side, your knees battered terribly. In your other arm, you clutched something desperately, but you let it fall to the ground when you saw the red haired witch, so clearly relieved to see her. You heaved out a ragged gasp. She rushed to you, heels complying against the wooded porch to catch you before you could lose your standing. 

“Watch the arm, Love.” You warned quietly before she could grab you. You were so very tired, but so very happy when she grasped your uninjured arm and sat you down on the first stair, her hands flying over your body fretfully. At this point, the rest of the Spellman crew had made their way outside, all exclaiming at the state you were in. Gus whined at your side, licking your hand free of blood and dirt. 

“Mother of Demons, what happened to you?” Zelda grasped your face in her perfect palms, squatting down in front of you. You were so grateful to be looking into her face again. Your eyes fluttered at the pleasing sound of her voice.

“I came home. I got the box.” You replied, voice just above a whisper. Her eyes were glazing over tearfully, but she glanced down to the ground. You _did_ do it. You got Pandora’s Box and you came back to her, just like you said you would. If she wasn’t so worried about your dazed gaze and blood covered clothes, she would’ve kissed you.

“She’s bleeding badly, Auntie Zee.” Sabrina spoke up, making her way down the steps in a rush. Zelda took a harder look at your injuries. It seemed as though you had tried some makeshift bandage on your knees, but those wouldn’t last much longer. 

“Zelda.” Your hand weakly gripped hers. She looked at you worriedly. “It needs to go somewhere safe.” You pointed to the chest which had tumbled to the ground.

“Sabrina, take the box inside. Put it in the enchanted wardrobe in Ambrose’s room. It will be safe there.” Zelda ordered, her eyes never leaving you. Sabrina bent down and plucked the box off the grass. She trotted inside. You leaned your head against Zelda’s shoulder and shut your eyes tightly, taking a deep breath of her rose perfume and musky smell of cigs. 

Ambrose and Zelda had helped to get you inside the Mortuary. You’d once been told that adrenaline didn’t ebb away until the body felt safe. Needless to say that the pain was steadily increasing ever since Zelda had found you. Tears pricked in your eyes as they sat you down on the sofa. You weren’t exactly sure why they decided _this_ was the place to drop you, but you supposed you didn’t exactly want to make the trip to the basement right now. You felt bad, though, for getting blood and grime all over the couch. 

Zelda ordered Hilda to fetch something, a midwifery bag. Things were happening, people and voices floating in and out as the registered in your brain. A glass of water appeared in front of you, Zelda holding it up to your lips. You drank it greedily, allowing the liquid to quench your unyielding thirst. Her hand came to touch your clammy forehead, worry creasing on her brow. 

Hilda arrived with the bag. Zelda dug through it, whipping out various bottles and bandages onto the ground. Everyone was moving so quickly around you, forcing various potions down your throat. You were quite sure you had a minor concussion. Their voices were so loud and the light from outside so blinding. 

Luckily, after having a myriad of potions forced down your throat, you did begin to feel significantly better. You could feel yourself steadily growing stronger, your blood replenishing, your pain ebbing away due to the numbing effects of the poppy potion. By the time Zelda had cut your jeans at the kneecaps, you’d almost regained lucidity.

“I liked those.” You murmured, head finally coming upright instead of the lolled back position it had assumed. They were your favorite pair of blue jeans. You’d had them since the ‘80s. 

“They’re threadbare and tattered. I think their time is spent.” Zelda replied harshly, completely focused on the task at hand. You rolled your eyes, or you at least tried too. You were a little too weak to have an attitude at the moment. Not to mention the fact that Zelda had scissors pointed at your gashed flesh. She was muttering to herself the whole time she cleaned out your wounds. You couldn’t make out what she was saying, but you were sure they weren’t exactly loving words of affection. 

“We’ll have to pop the shoulder back in place by hand.” Ambrose stated, taking a look at the squared and swollen joint. Your eyes widened at his words.

“Why can’t you just use a spell?” You asked, anxiety creeping through you. Not a soul in this house was qualified to relocate a joint by hand. 

“Our magic is waning. You're lucky the midwife bag was already stocked with supplies.” Zelda explained, her hands working on the buttons of your beige collared shirt. The last time she was undoing these buttons was the night at the cabin. “Sabrina, grab her something to bite down on.” 

_What did she mean, they had no magic? Your magic was doing perfectly fine._

_But you had Hecate and your ancestors to give you energy. They only had Lucifer._

Your shirt was removed entirely. You tried not to flush at Zelda’s hands brushing over your bare skin, or when she practically gagged you with a leather belt, sticking it between your teeth. Ambrose maneuvered your arm into an uncomfortable position, rotating it upwards and back. It wasn’t seethingly painful, but even that movement hurt. And you knew what was to come would be much worse. 

“Brace her on either side, Auntie Zee.” Zelda did as she was instructed. Her hands came up your side to hold you at your shoulder blade, your soulmate mark thrumming hotly against her palm, and at the front of your ribs, just under your deep blue brassier. Her body pressed up against you to support you steadily. You leaned into it unconsciously.

“I’m going to count down from three. Are you ready?” You nodded, you turned your head slightly to look away, now resting against Zelda’s cheek. You shut your eyes tightly and took a deep breath, her pleasant aroma invading your senses immediately. Ambrose, the arsehole, only made it to two before thrusting your arm back into place. It made a sickeningly loud noise. If not for your leather belt, you would have screamed. Instead you groaned painfully, tears springing in your eyes as you threw your head back. Your hand instinctively gripped tightly onto Zelda’s thigh at the sudden agony. 

They all gave you a moment to recollect yourself. You sucked in a deep breath through your nose. As the pain diminished, so did the strength in which you clenched down on the leather. Zelda’s hand creeped up to remove the thing, her fingers brushing ever so slightly against the corner of your mouth. 

“I think it worked.” You forced out hotly. Your arm did feel better. The throbbing, even when considering the effects of the poppy potion, was much less unbearable. Sure, you’d be tender and bandaged, but you could live with that. 

“Excellent. Now you’ll need to rest. Hilda will make you some tea for your head. Do we still have any cooling salve, Ambrose?” 

You were helped up to your room. You couldn’t help but notice that Zelda’s things were scattered around; her hairbrush, a pair of heels, an ashtray. It made your heart glow and saddened you all at the same time. She must’ve missed you. 

“I’m honestly feeling better already, Zelda. You don’t have to hover. Hilda told me that you all were preparing for the Hare moon.” 

“At this point I’m not sure I’ll even be attending. Look at you, you’re a mess. And the only reason you feel better is because you’re inebriated on opioids and calming serum.”

“I’m not a mess. A little bruised sure, but at least I have a fresh change of clothes on.” You gestures to Zelda’s blood stained blouse and frenzied hair. Alternatively, you had been bathed, clothed, and fed a warm meal. “So don’t miss the festivities on my account. I’ll be just fine here.” 

“I’m not leaving you alone. Not after what you’ve been through.” 

No, you hadn’t gone into much detail about your experience. You’d figured it would only upset her. But Zelda surmised that it had been rough. 

“Then I’ll come along. I’ll be right as rain in an hour or so, at this rate. It’s just a picnic, it’s not like we're doing anything _strenuous_.” She eyed you, clearly not convinced. And rolled her eyes at your suggestive tone at the end of your reasoning. “Besides, my mother and I used to celebrate the Hare moon together. I want to see it again.” You grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. You batted your eyes a little at her. You didn’t think that would do the trick, but it did. 

She sighed, arms crossing. “Fine. But only if you get some rest. Some real rest. Not just sitting there complaining and needlessly needling me.” 

You smiled bashfully at her. Funnily enough, you’d found out that the aforementioned teasing of ‘nurse Zelda’ was not exactly as charming to the red haired witch as it was to you. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say she was getting annoyed with your medically induced slightly-too-loose tongue. It wasn’t really your fault anyways, she’d given you the potions, and it was just so easy to get under her skin- in a loving way. 

“If you insist, _Ma Belle_.” You let your tongue purr out the ‘L’ in eloquent French and leaned back contentedly onto your pillows— the ones Zelda had propped up just for you. The comment got the reaction you were looking for, _unsurprisingly_. Her eyebrows rose the tiniest bit, her eyes squinting at you. Her lips parted just enough for her tongue to dark out to brush against her perfectly done lipstick with unimpressed poise, even though she was clearly enticed. Her arms folded tightly, her chest puffing out, just enough for you to take her in. “You know, you can’t can’t like this around the coven.” 

“Why not?”

“Because,” she leaned close to you, her palm digging into the mattress next to your body. Your breath hitched as her face came just a hair away from yours. “...your feeble attempts at seduction _might just work._ ” She breathed out to you. You shuddered at the thought. Oh, how you’d missed this. The honeymoon phase had been severely interrupted.

_She was eyeing you like a steak, and you could do nothing about it. And… she knew it._

“That’s hardly encouragement to stop, even considering the state that I’m in.” You said smoothly, your head moving forward to meet her lips that taunted you deliciously. 

She pulled away just before you could reach her, once again standing up straight. She rolled her eyes at you and let out a laugh. 

——————————————

Zelda had graciously found you a dress to wear for the picnic. It was lacy white and form fitting at the top. It was sleeveless so that your tender arm could breath and, thankfully, covered your bandaged knees. You made a lewd comment at its unchaste design, which earned you a glaring eye roll. ‘ _Just wait til you see what we wear tonight.’_ She’d rebutted smugly. You quirked an interested eyebrow. 

You had slept blissfully for two hours, and would have slept much longer, but you were fine to be awake. Zelda had been right though, the rest did wonders. Your brain fog had cleared considerably. Your shoulder, though tender, felt an edge better with the cooling slave. And the only problem you had with your healing knees was restrictive movement. You didn’t want to make them bleed unnecessarily, of course. Zelda was thoroughly impressed with your recovery. Even considering you still had your magic, you seemed to be getting along further than expected in such a short amount of time. 

The festivities were beautifully planned. The scrupulous leader of the coven had done a wonderful job, not that you were surprised. Zelda was very traditional and particular in her methods. Your mother and you hardly ever went all-out for the festival, but Amazonian witches normally partake in some form of Lunar festival, especially when your father’s coven never celebrated any.

Zelda had hovered around you at first. She never strayed far and when she did she’d casted you worried glances. But you’d insisted she needn’t worry so much. You were doing perfectly fine and you were honestly enjoying talking to the young witches and warlocks again. Sabrina had just left to release the hare. You were standing with Ambrose, you hand resting at his elbow in case you began to feel faint. 

“Twenty bucks that she gets lost.” Ambrose quips to you. You smile and laugh.

“Twenty bucks that she can’t bear to release the thing.” You reply cheekily. Ambrose cracked a smile.

“I’m surprised that you came, Hesper. You were worse for wear not too long ago.” 

“You know me, I don’t miss a party. And Zelda did me right with all those potions. I’m feeling much better.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but booze doesn’t tend to mix well with poppy tincture.” He gestured to the glass of red wine in your hand. “I’m sure she won’t be pleas-“

Before the warlock could finish his warning, Sabrina returned in a state of panic. She wanted you all to leave immediately, which you weren’t happy to hear. The hike out to the middle of the forest had been the toughest part for you. You kept having to take breaks, leaning on Zelda’s shoulders. You didn’t like to worry the witch, but appeared Sabrina had a different mindset in terms of causing unnecessary stress for her aunties.

The alarm, it appeared, wasn’t unwarranted though. Your dress rustled in the spring breeze, sending it’s fine lace swaying around your unsteady legs. You felt your hairs stand on end as the energy shifted. A fire in your belly sparked to life. A group, large and feral appeared. They sported ceremonial masks and stood tall against the trees, fully invigorated by the lunar power. You sized them up, your eyes narrowing. 

_Pagans._

You felt your fists clenched at your side. As the coven bunched together, you found yourself drifting to the front, standing defensively before them all. You’d somehow forgotten about your injuries in the face of danger.

_They are all powerless. You’re the only one who could protect them._

Zelda noticed you do so, her gaze casting back towards you. You thought she might’ve stopped you, but she didn’t, even though her concern for you was clear. The man at the front removed his mask. He was tanned and handsome, but something about him made you uneasy. 

“Forgive us.” He smiled at you all. “We did not mean to disturb your celebration. We have come in search of a place to celebrate as well.” Zelda moved past you, approaching the group. You didn’t like her getting closer to the strangers. You watched them carefully, trying to be ready for any sudden moves from them. You already had a mind full of hexes to send hurtling towards them. 

“Celebrate what?”

_You already knew that answer to that._

“Ostara. And what is it that you are celebrating?” 

Your teeth gritted. That was none of their business. These people could be dangerous, depending on their beliefs. You stepped up, reinforcing Zelda with your presence by her side. Your hand came to rest on her shoulder. She glanced at you, but some silent communication occurred between you two. ‘ _Let me.’_

You spoke for her. “We’re celebrating the Hare Moon.” The man’s face changed into a sour expression. He eyed you all up and down, silent. A tense moment pulled onwards, the silence speaking wonders.

“Um, I mean, we were just, um… about to have a spot of lunch.” Hilda spoke up from behind you with a chuckle. You didn’t take your eyes away from the man. His gaze was now fixated on _you,_ a sort of threatening curiosity had befallen him. “We’ve got Nutella and bread and cheese and wine and cold cuts, if you all want to join us?”   
  


You resisted the urge to turn around a gasp at Hilda. _What the hell was she thinking?_ But alas, the group of pagans removed their masks and began to mingle with you all. You, however, were on high alert. You’d hardly taken a moment to peel your eyes away from the guests. Zelda noticed your rigidity, but said nothing about it. She began to pour herself a glass of wine, you now hovering near her for a change. Then, of course, one of those ridiculous children did _exactly_ what you were worried about.

“Head Mistress Spellman, should we say a prayer of thanks to Lilith first?” You let out a curse under your breath and once again testosterone the urge to palm your face. Everyone had frozen and fallen silent, waiting for a reaction. 

“Lilith. You pray to Lilith and not your Dark Lord?” The pagan leader asked. You sucked in an unsteady breath. Zelda, though, as keen as ever, dismissed Elspeth, thank Hecate, stating that no prayers were necessary. You also didn’t particularly want to worship the Mother of Demons anyways, not when you were internally devoted to Hecate. “Whatever the case, I don’t believe our guests pray to Lilith, do you?”

“No, we do not.” His eyes flashed to you knowingly. You frowned. “We pray to… others.” Your pulse quickened a little.

_Calm down. He couldn’t know anything. And if he did, what would it matter._

The picnic continued. You’d remained by Zelda’s side for the majority of the ongoings and now sat with her on the outskirts of the gathering to take a breather. You couldn’t bring yourself to eat anything, though, you were too worked up. Zelda found that in particular strange, you normally had a strong appetite. She gave you an obvious side-eye.

“You don’t seem to be enjoying yourself nearly as much as you insisted you would.” Your gaze had been trailing the interlopers carefully, watching their every move, a distrusting scowl on your face. You turned to the witch at her words. She sat on the gingham blanket with you, her legs tucked under her. She was at perfect ease compared to you. You watched as she popped a strawberry into her mouth, her delectable lips puckered around it.

You swallowed, your eyes glancing back to the strangers before settling on her figure once more. “These strangers make me uneasy. Especially when you all are so… vulnerable.” You whispered the last word, not wanting to expose them. You hadn’t been able to bend your knees like Zelda, so you sat with them straight out in front of you, your good arm propping you up from behind you. Zelda had even been uncharacteristically considerate and gotten you a plush pillow to rest against.

She made a small noise of disbelief. “They aren’t being hostile.” 

“That means nothing. They are unwavering in their beliefs and easily offended. We should’ve left the first chance we got… not invited them to dine with us.” Zelda rose an eyebrow at your intense proclamation. She hadn’t realized you were so bothered by the situation. She took a sip of her wine.  
  


“Hilda made a smart move. We are in no position to cause problems.” She reasoned. You knew she was right. Even though you still had your magic, you couldn’t take on twenty pagan witches by yourself, not when you were injured. “You just need to relax a little. Everything is going smoothly at the moment and we still don’t know what they want or why they are here.” 

When your sour expression didn’t change, Zelda leaned close to you, letting out a little laugh at your steadfastness. She turned your chin up to meet her face, a small smile playing at her beautiful lips. She pressed a loving kiss against your lips, your tense muscles released at the delightful taste of strawberries and wine on her lips. You let out a small noise of suprise, she had never kissed you in front of the entire coven. She tended to keep all affection she showed you private, at least before. She had been drinking wine, though, so maybe it loosened her up a little, not that you were complaining. Or maybe she simply was making up for lost time. She had just gotten you back, after all. 

You leaned into the playful kiss, your teeth trying to graze her bottom lip and open up a little more for her. This was the first kiss she had given you since you arrived this morning, she had seemed a little too concerned and frustrated with you before now. You’d tried to steal one from her when you were bathing, but she hadn’t allowed you. You found that Zelda thoroughly enjoyed denying you, especially when you weren’t particularly in her good graces. It was delightful to kiss her again, your eyes closed in sweet bliss, your tongue greedily tasting her lips, but she pulled away from you before you could take it any further. You tried not to pout at the loss, but you already missed the feeling of her. 

She cleared her throat a little, far more composed than you, and used her thumb to wipe the lipstick she had smudged off your upper lip. “Now, do as I say and enjoy yourself. I’m going to get some more wine.” She left you there, stars in your eyes. You gave her a smile, finally making yourself comfortable. You closed your eyes and breathed in a fresh breath of air. You let yourself listen to to witches chatting around you and the trees rustling in the air. Then, you heard a seethingly quiet rattle, like a snake. Your eyes snapped open. 

“You have an interesting choice of mate, Amazon.” Her accent shown through beautifully, like smooth river rocks her words rolled out. It was thoroughly entrancing. You brought your gaze up to where she stood, dark and mysterious, the light sky standing out against her dark figure. 

“How so?” You indulged her, only for the sake of gaining information.

The woman tutted. “She does not share your ideals. She is stilted, whereas you are both rooted and fluid— a willow tree.” 

You frowned a little, taking a moment to consider what the witch was saying. “Our souls are matched, as are our temperaments. I’ve been waiting a long time for her.” 

“That is clear. You two share a kindled desire for one another— a longing. I smell it.” She sucked in a tiny breath, a rattle hissing out between her teeth. “Tell me, is she the reason you hide yourself, Amazon?” 

_Who did she know that you were Amazonian and what did it matter to her? What did any of this matter to this slithering witch?_

“I do not hide myself.” 

“But you do not worship Lilith, you are declared to your ancestral deity. I worship her too, among others. She rules womanhood in my culture. You are one of us, and yet you lay with dogs such as these witches.” 

You ignored her blatant insult. “I am not pagan.” 

“No, but your blood is akin to royalty. You should rule over them all as a champion of Hacate.”

“Your reverence for my decent is misdirected, I’m afraid. I’m very happy with my coven.”

“ _Your_ coven, or hers?” She asked slyly, but it was clear she wasn’t expecting an answer. You scowled at her clear pass on you.

Luckily, Zelda called for you from across the way where she and Ambrose were sitting in the center of the picnic speaking to the leader of the pagans. She saved you from conversing with this unsavory witch. “I must be going.” You moved to stand, wincing at the pain as you bent at the knees. The witch saw you do so, eyeing you like a wounded animal, scanning your bruises and bandages.

You, Zelda, Ambrose, Hilda and Sabrina slipped away into the outskirts of the forest. Zelda, it seemed, had finally grasped the danger of the situation after speaking with the pagan leader. 

“They’re bloody pagan witches.” 

“What are pagans doing here though in our clearing?” Hilda asked.

“Causing havoc as pagans are wont to do.” You tried to hide your grimace at her words. Even though you definitely weren’t a pagan, pagans did worship your goddess. Zelda sighed. “I thought they were gone from this part of the country, honestly, the whole country.” 

“Didn’t pagan die out when-“ Ambrose began, but Zelda interrupted him. 

“When satanic witches ascended, yes.” 

“Not necessarily.” You spoke up. Zelda turned to you. “Many went into hiding or assimilated, like Amazonian witches. And from my personal experience, they are normally not very friendly.” 

“Well, they can’t just interrupt our moon bath. We have to, like, banish them.” The youngest witch spoke up. You _wished_ you could banish them.

“We don’t have the strength to confront them head on. The only one of us who could possibly hold up some semblance of defense is Hesper, but she’s in no condition to do so.” Zelda was under them impression your magic stemmed from your ancestors, which was partly the truth. Not many knew about Amazonian worship of Hecate. In any case, she was right.

“None of us are completely powerless, though. Surely we could muster up something.” You said, hopeful.

“What about the rain? We could conjure up a storm. Maybe they will leave?” Sabrina suggested. 

You laughed a little. “We’re going to rain check a group of pagan witches out of the blue?” 

Zelda frowned. “Well we have to try something.” 

You all grasped hands in the circle, your right hand delicately finding Zelda’s left. Your long fingers wrapped around her palm. You chanted the words with them, forcing all your will into the thunderous clouds forming above. But, it didn’t work. You frowned, surely you had enough power to muster up a simple storm. 

“That should’ve worked.” You said to Zelda. 

“If we can’t conjure a simple storm then we are in serious trouble. We’re too weak.” Ambrose spoke. 

You glanced around, dumbfounded. You felt your magic churning perfectly fine. You didn’t feel weak at all with it coursing through you. “Someone must’ve countered us-“ A scream sounded from back in the clearing. You let out a groan of exasperation. “For Hell’s sake, what now?” 

Dorcas had been bitten by a snake, which was easily dealt with by the help of the dark charming woman who approached you earlier. However, Nicolas, curse him, found it to be his duty to seek revenge on the slithering creature. As expected ( _you had called it_ ) the pagans were horribly offended by this. 

“We should leave.” The dark man spoke. 

“Yes. Perhaps that’s best. We were here first.” Zelda quipped out quickly, before anyone else could respond. You held your gaze on the group of pagans, wondering what their next move would be. 

“No, we were here first, before the false god, before your dark lord, the old gods reigned, and we worshiped them. Now something has happened, it’s clear, and our time has come around again.” 

You frowned at his obscure words. But your mind was only concerned with getting these witches as far from the coven as possible. “Actually, sir, If you want to be technical, _my_ ancestors walked this land before all. They ruled over all witches, in fact. You are nothing but ambivalents who fail to draw power from one true deity, instead relying on many weaker ones.” All eyes were on you, your harsh and confrontational words would surely rule them up, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You strengthened your tone even more, command dripping from your stance. “As the censorer of all declared, I demand that you leave these grounds at once, in the name of Hecate.” 

He scoffed. “You are weakened, Amazon. Who are you to demand anything?” 

“The weakest of Amazonians still stand victorious in battle, as I’m sure you well know. I stand guard over this coven, so if you must, attack a true blooded champion and face the wrath of our greatest goddess.” You dared him, your chest puffing out. You were really hoping that you didn’t have to fight these people, but you would if you had to.

The man eyed you. He was finally understanding the magnitude of your words. “You are wrong to stand with them, Amazon. You are disgraceful in her light.” 

“I am anything but, I assure you.” He cast his eyes away from you, unable to meet your stony gaze, but kept his chin high. He listed his arm as a way of indicating that he would hear no more from you. You watched his boots crunch in the soil as he turned around. 

“Oh, he raised his hand.” Hilda whispered out. You all stood as the group left at your command, dismissing and retreating back into the forest from where they came. You finally felt at ease as they disappeared. 

You felt someone smack your shoulder playfully and turned your head to find Sabrina with an impressed smile on her face. “Why didn’t you do that to begin with?” 

You shrugged a little. “I didn’t think calling rank would work all that well, to be honest. But it appears I was wrong.”

Hilda’s voice arose from beside you. She appeared with a pie pan held carefully in her arms. “Well, look, why don’t we send an offering to make amends?” Your eyes flashed at the plump witch’s absolute absurdity. _You all had just barely gotten them to leave and she wanted to interact with them further?_

“No one is going near that slithering group to apologize. If they are half as superstitious as they appear, they will leave town immediately. Amazonians are severely revered in their culture.” 

“What if they come back? Will you actually be able to hold them off alone?” Ambrose questioned you.

“Probably not, I was only bluffing. For now, let’s just worry about restoring all your powers right now.” 

You turned to Zelda, she standing tall with a grimm expression on her face. Her eyes locked with yours. You frowned, a question forming on your lips. Before you could ask it, she gripped your elbow. “Can I speak with you for a moment?” 

“Of course you can.” Zelda led you to the outskirts of the clearing once more, away from where any of the coven could hear. Her hand grasped your arm lightly, simultaneously offering you support. She came to stand in front of you, her right hand fingers came up to toy with the skin around her left forearm. You’d only seen her do that a few times, but it told you that she was definitely feeling worried. 

“If this is about my reference of Hecate, then-“ 

“No, it’s not that.” She stopped you and took a step closer, her voice lowering. “It’s about what he said— their leader. That something had happened and their time had come.” You weren’t following, clearly. Confusion was written all over your face. She let out a sigh, her nerves starting to get the best of her, which hardly ever happened. She tried to turn away from you, but you stopped her, your hands coming to rest on her shoulders comfortingly. She swallowed, her eyes finding your hazel orbs once more. “Do you think _this_ the thing that you said was coming for us all— these pagans and whatever trouble they bring? Is _this_ why you needed Pandora’s Box?” 

_Oh. That’s why she is so frightful. Too bad there was nothing you could say to qualm her fears._

You gulped. “I don’t know.” Zelda rolled her eyes at your unsubstantial answer.

“How can you not know? You were very adamant back in the Graveyard.” 

“Because, I don’t know, Zelda. All I know is that whatever comes our way, I’ll make sure we are ready for it.” Her eyes softened a little at your words and she leaned into your touch a little. You prayed that you were able to calm her down some. You didn’t like seeing Zelda so anxious. 

Nightfall came, and with that, the rise of the Hare moon. Zelda was positively glowing it it’s light, you couldn’t take your eyes off her. 

“What are you staring at?” She asked you. In the moon’s precious beams you could easily see the pale streaks of green with the gray in her iris’s coloration. She had one hand on her hip, surveying her coven and then you with a deep drag of her cigarette. 

“You, _Ma Belle.” You were far from her, so you would easily speak your delicate words to her._

She raised an eyebrow. “Have you gotten into the wine?” She took a close look at you. “Your cheeks are flushed just below your eyes.” 

“No, no.” You leaned closer to her, but your voice hardly lowered. “I’m just drunk on you.” _Truth was— and Zelda clearly knew this— you were a little bit tipsy, but what was the harm in matching her?_

“You’re ridiculous. And keep your voice down, there are children present.” 

You laughed at her resignation to your words of endearment. “Half of these kids get more action that we’ve seen in weeks.” 

She smirked a little, flicking the ashes of her cig onto the ground. You wanted to breathe her smoke off her lips. “That’s because you went on a suicide mission.” 

“Well at least those words hold promise for the future.” 

Zelda scoffed, dismissing your suggestive comment and gingerly pushing her burnt out cig onto the forests’ earth. “Would you unzip me?” She turned around so that you could access her zipper, her dress swishing around her calves like a perfect ‘70’s housewife. You almost spit out you wine on her perfectly white dress. 

“What?” You felt your face flush harder as you glanced around. The entire coven was around. _Did she want to put on a show or sommat?_

“Unzip me. We’re going to anoint ourselves and we can’t do that with our clothing on.” You hesitated for a moment, but did as she said. Your hands moved to grasp the small metal zipper, dragging it slowly down her pale white back, your cold knuckles brushing against the warm skin there. She slipped off the dress, standing only in her silk undergarment. You took her in, feeling a pool of desire forming deep within you. She turned around to face you, her red curls glowing in the moonlight, but her expression was business as usual. You wanted to feel her, though— make her feel good and… her make you feel good as well. 

You swallowed, your voice suddenly very raspy. You found your feet unable to move from the ground where they were planted for fear that you’d float away. The witch brought her coercing hands to your shoulders, forcing you to spin around in your planted spot. Fleeting touches glazed over your chest, arm, and finally your lower back where your zipper rested. Zelda’s hot breath creeped down your neck once again, her hands delicately creeping on you. It took everything in you to hold your limited body in.

“I’m not sure how I feel about you prancing around so scantily clad with these concupiscent young witches around.” You spoke tearsly, your breath hitching. Zelda didn’t respond for a minute. She only began dragging the zipper down over your toned ass where the fabric hung the tightest. Her hand brushed over you there, sending desire for more ravenous touches through your body. When the zipper clicked at the bottom of its track, she leaned close to your ear. She got unreasonably code to the under of your jaw for it not to be more than teasing. Hands brushed over your soulmate mark to pull the sleeve of your dress down, it sent blissful shivers down your spine. You felt like you hadn’t been touched by her like this in ages. You felt… _longing._ “I hardly think I’m the one they will be staring at.” You breathed out to the despondent air in front of you, knowing that she could feel your body moving with steady breath.

Zelda hadn’t told you that you’d be stripping down to your undergarments in front of quite a few teenagers. You’d put on a lacy dark green brasserie and matching underwear, which hardly covered your lower cheeks. The garments clung to you beautifully, highlighting your evident lean muscles and fememnine figure all at the same time. No matter that, you felt very exposed when the cold air hit your olive toned skin. And Zelda— she seemed to enjoy it, it seemed. You turned to her to find her eyes drinking your bare body in. 

“This is cruel.” You stated, your eyes finding hers. She had a pleased smirk on her lips. You hinted, unforgivably, that you wanted to have sex with your witch. Your body heaved toward her, but her palms pushed against you. 

“Only in the best way possible. And of course, it’s all out of necessity.” She held you steady. 

You frowned, but refused to cover yourself with your long limbs. “You could’ve warned me. I would’ve put on something less revealing. Everyone can see my bruises and bandages… among other things.” Your soulmate mark had been in clear view all day, but for some reason you could feel everyone staring at you now— at it. Some pat of you like the idea of being claimed by Zelda so openly, so obsoletely in writing. The other part of you, though, felt like a spectacle, standing with their very own Headmistress Spellman, stripped completely. The energy was crackling between you two, like you’d tackle her and fuck her right there on the drit, and no one could say a thing about it, because that’s what you were supported to do. Instead, your finger barely twitched, as if it was trying to put the rest of your heated body into action. You refused to allow it.

“Where would the fun be in that?” She asked coyly. You suppressed a groan. 

“I suppose I deserve this.” You replied, barely letting emotion show to those around you. But you knew Zelda could read you like a book right now. You were at her mercy. 

“Some might say that. I say it’s just a bit of excitement.” She replied nonchalantly, as if you weren’t burning up with desire and vulnerability in front of her eyes. You could tell she was enjoying this, the smug tone and fitting expression on her attractive face. 

You all made it to the ceremonial the fire. You had to light it yourself. You whispered the words and it easily set alight into flames. A small part of you felt guilty for being the only one to still have the gifts still. The thought weakened you. 

You turned, you’re eyes casting towards where the coven was stripping, your gaze uncaring. Your hazel eyes found Zelda, who was eyeing your magic from across the way. You locked eyes with her. You couldn't decipher what her eyes were saying, they were unreasonably clouded. 

The ceremony went as planned… at first. You laid next to Zelda, trying desperately not to get enchanted by her exposed figure and creamy skin. You all bathed in the moonlight, allowing the moon to soak into your pores, the oil serving as an activant for the magical reaction. Your breath was even and light. It was wonderful, gazing at the night sky so close to your lover. You had an offhanded thought that you should force Zelda to do this another time in private. Hilda did wonderfully to guide you all through the moon bath, although her tone did remind you slightly of your kindergarten teacher. You wanted to tell Zelda such, but you figured it wasn’t the time to poke fun at her sister to her.

Then, of course, your hand in Zelda’s, your skin glowing with the lunar power— your ancestral blood positively incandescent, the moon evaporated like water on a hot sunny day. _Could anything on this day possibly go right?_ You directly contradicted Zelda’s words, ‘ _Well at least something has gone right today.’_

“Oh, no.” Hilda gasped out, her gaze witnessing the full moon disappear before her eyes. “Someone is swallowing the moon.” 

“I believe your right, sister, and I believe I know who’s doing it.” Zelda got up. You did too. “It’s those blessed pagans.” 

“Damn it, I knew their reverence for Hecate was feigned. No declared would ever do such a thing.” 

“They’re attacking us.” 

“Auntie, what do we do? The moon bath won’t work under an eclipsed moon.” 

“Gather your things, students, and make haste. The Pham witches mean to do us harm.” They followed Zelda’s command. 

Your mind began racing a mile a minute. You had to do something. You couldn’t leave the entire coven at the pagans’ mercy. 

_Should you do it? Should you reveal your secret, wholly, for the sake of the coven? For Zelda?_

“Wait, everyone. There is another way to regain your powers.” You paused, taking in every single one of their gazes. “Few know this, but Amazonian witches do not just draw their power from the elements and our ancestors. We worship a goddess— Hecate.” 

“The pagan goddess you mentioned earlier? When you were warding off the heathens?”

“Yes, only she is not a pagan deity, she only happens to be worshipped by some ambiavants. She is powerful, ruling over womanhood, witchcraft, lunar energies. I think— if you all are willing— she may bless you with her gifts, as she does me.” 

Zelda touched your arm, unsure. You turned to her, giving her a nod that spoke for you. ‘ _Trust me.’_

“Alright, we’ll try.” Zelda spoke. 

“Everyone, lie back down and close your eyes. Form the circle and join hands— you too Hilda. I’ll guide this.” They did as you said. You watched them form a circle around the fire pit once more. Your energies were humming to be so close to their potential.

You sucked in a deep breath, your mind going wherever it pleases. You tried to remember what your moth had said for you on your sixteenth birthday. After a pregnant pause, you began.

“Hecate, dear mother, guiding light, turn these maiden bodies into your servants. All others have failed us— Lucifer, Lilith, thou Lunar presence— but not you. You stand strong.” 

“Please, Hecate, bless this coven with thy gifts— in the blank night sky, fill us like thy reflecting stars. Trust that I, your champion, will serve you dutifully as the utmost champion and spirit the torch of the declared.” You rose your hands to the dark sky, pacing around the circle. You stood strong, despite your injuries. You prayed that this would work, every step you took, every minor pain, every feeling of the breeze propelled you forward. 

“Mother, Maiden, Crown, shine down upon us and restore our vessels with your power. Ancestors of these witches, bless them with your willingness and power so that they may triumph in the battle to come. Elements, show mercy on us feeble witches, and allow us to harness your energies.” 

You were almost shouting to the sky in desperation. Nothing was happening. You felt like you’d been let down by her. Your goddess had said she’d be there for you.

_Please, please, please Hecate. Do this for me._

You took a gulping breath and continued to the finish, you back to the fire and crown to the sky. “Allow our magic to center in our cores and grow outward with the cosmic and moon. Allow us to bear the gifts for which we were born. Please, dear Hecate, accept us as your declared.” 

You were about to give up. She hadn’t come to you when you needed her most. Typical. You held yourself, waiting— still waiting. All in the circle held their breath. 

Your skin began to glow once more, this time golden, as if the fire was shining down on your all. You smiled at the funny tingles dancing across your skin. Your heart was glowing so brightly you could bring yourself to say another word. 

You heard members shout in excitement, the coven finally regaining their powers. It was so gratifying to glance around and see the magic pouring into them all. It was as if this was what you were meant to do. 

It hadn’t felt like ages, but the fire died out as if it had been used as a beacon for your goddess. When it did, you began to feel spent, your body finally allowing the trauma inflicted on it to catch up to you. You felt the cool air whip around you, your knees growing weak. Your mind elsewhere, lost in the energizing content of your work, but your eyes had shut without your knowledge. The one thing to pull your trance was a hand coming to rest on your shoulder. 

“You did it, Hesper.” Zelda had a new light about her when you opened your eyes. It was a good change, she felt powerful. “Your goddess— our goddess, she restored our magic.” 

You smiled weakly at her. Zelda’s brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

You were going to lie to her and tell her that you were fine, but you couldn’t. “I’m feeling a little faint. But we need to move, we’re still vulnerable out here. It will take a while for your magic to settle and grow.” 

Zelda nodded and instructed the students to gather their things and head back to the academy. You felt woozy, but you tried to play it off. Ambrose approached you as Zelda turned towards her students. He was absolutely gleaming. It was a clear juxtaposition to you. His concern mimicked the exact same that flickered on Zelda’s expression. “You look unwell. Are you going to be able to make the trip to the academy?” 

Your blood was rushing to your head. Black spots seemed to be growing in your field of vision. Your exhaustion was catching up with you, especially after the stunt you had just pulled. 

You moved to wave the warlock off, but instead you felt a rush of dizziness “Of course I’ll…” your breathless voice faded out along with you. Your feet fell from under your rooted stance. The world turned black just as you felt two strong arms wrap around you.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah it’s getting good. Hope you like it :)

Zelda had been terribly worried about you, Hilda thought. But when she was finally able to pull Zelda away from you, her sister still paced terribly, anxieties running high. Hilda could see it in Zelda’s eyes— regret, worry, fear. All her older sister wanted to do was sit by your bedside, but she couldn’t. She had to look after the coven. The pagans had been somewhat deterred thanks to you. The coven hadn’t heard a peep from them except for a letter left at the academy doors. ‘Three days.’ Was all it said. In this case, the lack of words— the unknown— did enough to keep everyone on edge. Even with their powers steadily growing, the threat still lingered in the air. And without you by her side, Hilda could visibly see her sister crumbling under the weight of it all. Hell, she’d seen Zelda smoke at least five cigarettes in the last hour, her hands shaking unsteadily. The younger blonde witch couldn’t even muster up the courage to bring up the fact that she’d possibly been cursed by those despicable pagans. The whole situation was a mess. 

You’d been asleep for fourteen hours in Zelda’s quarters. Your long body lay completely limp, face up on the plush mattress. Your mouth was opened slightly to suck in soft breaths of air, your eyes closed in blissful rest. If Hilda didn’t know any better, by your thrumming pulse and steady breath, she’d think you were dead. It was quite funny, Hilda honestly thought, to see such a vibrant capable witch out cold like you were. Zelda did not share her sentiment. 

When you finally did awaken you were alone in the quarters. You’d regained consciousness with ease, a slight flutter of your blurry eyes and gentle stretch of your limbs. It was light outside, you could tell from the sun beaming through the windows. You sucked in a deep breath through your nose, eyes batting as you glanced around. You could tell from the comforting smell alone that you were in Zelda’s room. But upon further inspection you could find signs that she’d been in there. A pair of heels, her robe, her ashtray half full. The sweet smell of rose mixed well with the clinging smoke and light booze. You could absolutely bask there for hours if you were left to your own devices. But of course, you weren’t. 

You had shuffled your body to sit in a more upright position. You didn’t even bother to run your hands through your hair or adjust your rumpled clothes. You just sat there for a moment. You felt significantly better, lighter even. You hadn’t realized how far you’d been pushing yourself the day of the Hare moon. It just felt like you were on autopilot. You weren’t even thinking about getting some rest then, you were only concerned with carrying on, business as usual. You were concerned with Zelda and the coven. It had obviously caught up with you, though, because finding yourself in a strangely familiar room clearly confirmed that you had, indeed, passed out. 

It didn’t take long for Zelda to find you laying there like it was exactly where you belonged. You blinked sleepily at her when she came in, as if nothing was amiss. But her footsteps faltered. Seeing you— conscious, rested, present— was the one thing she had needed these last few hours. It was the thing she craved for every time she’d entered the damned room to check on your sleeping figure. She paused, her manicured hand resting in the door knob as she let out a breath. Her body always looked so poised, so elegant, but her face spoke the unrelenting truth. She was relieved to see you. You loved the way her eyes softened for you. You were the only person who consistently received that look. 

“Good morning, _Ma Belle_.” You yawned out, your voice raspy. You liked calling her that. You liked the way she became flustered at the words. It worked like a spell, although Zelda his it well from anyone who couldn’t read her like out could.

“Good afternoon, more accurately.” She said stiffly. She paused again, her brain catching up with her. “You're awake.” She stated the obvious.

You’re lip quirked up a little. “I sure am.” 

Zelda entered fully then and sprung into her mission. She reached the tea tray resting on the sitting area table and quickly poured a cup for you, adding in honey instead of sugar just as you liked it. You watched her work, your eyes following her figure silently. She crossed the room to you and came to sit on the edge of the bed. You sat up, your good arm propping up the pillows. You thanked her for the tea as she handed you the porcelain cup and saucer. 

She watched you carefully as you took a sip, the hot liquid soothing your rough throat. Zelda seemed to let the relief that filled her seconds ago wash away, replaced only indignation. Her gaze hardened at you, a fire flashing in her eye. 

“Don’t you ever do that to me again.” Her voice was harsh. The change of tone had truly come out of nowhere. She’d been very happy to see you conscious a second ago, she made you tea, and here the witch was telling you off. You could only raise an eyebrow. 

“You fainted the first time I met you. Not the best first impression, I might add.” 

She rolled her eyes. “I came around in less than ten minutes. You have been comatose for over half the day. You’re lucky Ambrose was there to catch you when you went down.” 

You took another sip of the tea, swallowing the hot liquid. “I was exhausted. I hit a wall after the ritual and everything caught up with me. I’m sorry if I gave you a fright.” You spoke softly to her, which didn’t seem to do the trick. 

She scoffed. “You didn’t give me a fright.” She stood up from the bed, crossing her arms over her chest with a stormy expression. By the way she was acting, it certainly seemed as though you’d frightened her. “You ignored my every warning to rest yesterday, it was no surprise that you passed out cold in front of the whole coven.” You didn’t know how to respond to that. She wasn’t wrong, but it was over now. There was not changing the past. 

She huffed. “The point is that I’m getting very tired of worrying over you. It’s been constant, Hesper, for weeks. I can’t do it anymore, especially with everything else going on, so I need you to just…” she trailed off, not knowing how to finish. She wasn’t looking at you anymore, but had casted her eyes down between you two. 

That wasn't exactly what you expected to hear from her. But you supposed, from her perspective, she did have a point. You would be worried sick if Zelda had done the things you had. And you just kept getting yourself into trouble, pushing yourself too hard. It wasn’t just a lot on you, it was a lot on her, too. You frowned, and nodded in understanding at her words. Your hand reached out, your fingers squeezing her comfortingly. She brought her tight lipped expression back up to yours. 

“I’ll try to stay safe, Zelda. I’ll be careful, if that’s what you want.” There it was, that soft expression she gave to you. Her eyebrows relaxing and eyes gleaming at you, no matter how faintly. The imperceptible smile that found her way to the corner of her lips, returning at your promise. She deflated her vicious stance over you and sat back on the edge of the bed. 

“That’s going to be difficult, knowing you. And knowing what’s going on with these damned pagans.” 

“The pagans have been bothering you all? Still?” 

“They left a note at our door. ‘Three days.’ Whatever that means— it’s some vaguely threatening warning.’ 

“At least you all have your magic back. You’re not hopelessly defenseless.” 

She sighed, her hand coming to massage her temple. “Still, if the pagans mount an attack on us, I worry that we won’t be able to withstand them. Our coven is inexperienced and small. And the magic we do have is still settling.” 

You could hear the stress dripping from Zelda’s voice. All those things were true. In total, the coven had four adults and then fourteen students. That wasn’t nearly enough to defend against full grown pagan witches. 

Instead of continuing the conversation, because it was clear she was just venting, Zelda went to light a cigarette. You moved over without being asked, letting her find her place next to you atop the bed. She was still in her day clothes— a pencil skirt, blazer, and black heels— but there was something oddly comforting about you both sitting there propped up on the plush pillows of her quarters. Side by side in mutual silence, both of you were in two completely different states of dress. You, of course, looked like a right mess. Despite this, you both leaned against each other's shoulders anyways. 

Zelda took a drag of her cig. You put out your hand, asking for it without a glance or words. Instead of handing you the gold-plated holder, Zelda brought the butt of the cig up to your lips herself. You gripped the cigarette between your teeth, your lips settling around it before taking a deep breath. It’s smoke filled your lungs, you held it there for a beat, and then you let it trail out of your perfect mouth. It left you tingling all over, your head light and airy. 

“You don’t know of anyone that could help us, do you? Like other covens for Hecate?” She asked. 

“No, unfortunately I don’t. There aren’t many of us left and they mostly stay in hiding if they are around.” You thought for a moment. “... But bringing in reinforcements might not be a bad idea. Do you know any witches who might help us?” 

“You think we should bring in stray hedge witches?” 

“We need all the numbers we can get. So, yes, if that’s our only option.” 

She hummed. “I’ll think about it. There are a few we could call upon. Right now though, I just needs a moment to…”

“Catch your breath?” 

“Exactly.” Her head came to rest against your shoulder. You could smell her rose perfume wafting off her. You closed your eyes in sweet bliss and allowed your own head to lean against her. It was so nice to feel her relax against you. You loved to see her comfortable enough with you to let her guard down, to take her mask off as an unwavering leader—a severe witch — that she put on for everyone else. Your hand absentmindedly found its way to Zelda’s bare forearm. You slowly began drawing your nails up and down the skin there. You always loved that feeling, it was so soothing. You figured Zelda would like it too. And she did, she let out the sweetest sigh you’d ever heard, her lips were so close to your year. 

_She’s delightful._

The thought drifted into your mind. You weren’t startled by it at all, because it was entirely accurate. For all her flaws, you still would believe that Zelda hung the moon herself. Your mouth got a little dry at the next thought that drifted into your mind. 

_You should tell her._

You inwardly winced, but showed no change on the outside. Of course, you wanted to tell her, but your heart raced uncontrollably at the idea. What if she dismissed you or deflected your proclamation? You’d only just returned to her from the dark tomb of Pandora. But that was precisely what made you realize that you wanted to tell her as soon as possible, that you couldn’t possibly wait another second. And you were willing to ruin this perfect moment, sitting there basking in each other's presence, perfectly comfortably, to do so.

Zelda offered you another drag of her cig. You accepted, once again taking the fumes into your body. You relaxed into her beside you. Finally, you found the courage to speak. 

“I want to tell you something. And I don’t want to wait anymore, not after all that’s happened.” As you spoke the smoke trailed out between your lips like a S.O.S signal. Zelda turned her head slightly to lock eyes with you. 

“Well, what is it?” She asked before putting her cigarette between her own lips. She looked so natural next to you. You felt like you could see the both of you doing exactly this for the rest of your years. 

“I love you.” Your words were gentle but they stabbed through the air. Immediately, you regretted saying anything. Zelda’s eyes dropped from yours after letting out a small breath, the smoke leaving her. She shifted away slightly and stubbed out her cig in the ashtray next to you before returning her gaze back to you. She’d pulled her knees up to face you more and drawn her arms back toward her body to take you in head-on. However, there was now a vacant space between you two. 

“Hesper-“ she began softly. You couldn’t even bring yourself to look at her. You couldn’t bear to see her expression. You felt so embarrassed. 

You didn’t even know how you were expecting her to react to something like that. You hadn’t even thought this all through, you just blurted it out on a whim. Her lack of contact when she pulled away left you feeling very exposed. Of course Zelda wouldn’t want you to make such bold proclamations. She’s Zelda. She doesn’t do that sort of thing, and she probably saw weakness in such feeble things such as declaring your love. It was entirely unnecessary.

You leaned back against the pillows, your head rolling to the ceiling. Your hand grasped at your forehead at your stupidity and shut your eyes tight, trying your best to shut out the reality that you just created. 

“Shit. I’m sorry.” You interrupted her, trying desperately to suppress the groan forming in your throat. “I shouldn’t have-“

A hand coming up to rest on your shoulder stopped you. You cracked open an eye. “Hesper, it’s okay.” 

She was leaning close to you again, her hand bringing back the connection which you longed for. You couldn’t read her face no matter how hard you tried. It was a mix between shock and pity, which wrecked you. But there was something else too. A glimmer in her eyes, a bout of endearment. She pulled your hand down from your face which was serving as a shield, forcing you to look at her all the way. 

Her eyes were smoldering now, her lips parted. Her hand gripped the side of your face, fingers tangling into your hair. She pulled you towards her, her mouth finding yours. You kissed her back greedily, as if doing so would erase your embarrassment, loving the taste of smoke on both your lips. You slid your arms around her middle pulling her close. She arched into you, you gasped as she ran her finger tips to ghost over your collar bone and finally your chest. Her delicate tongue slipped past your lips and invaded you, running against your bottom lip. You could’ve sworn you felt her pulse fluttering above you. 

Zelda didn’t stop there though. You heard two heels thud onto the floor beside the bed as they were knocked off. She sucked in a hot breath before her hands began working on the buttons of her blazer. It took her less than a beat to get the thing off and onto the floor, leaving her only in a thin white blouse, before continuing her assault on you. She kissed you down your neck, surely leaving a trail of deep red lipstick stains in her wake. Someone must’ve given you a white cotton tee to sleep in, but now Zelda was gripping it tightly and hauling it up over your head. You were still wearing your undergarments from the night before, which you were fine with. You were even more fine with Zelda running her hands down your exposed flesh, sending goose bumps all over. Your hands found the zipper of her skirt. Your adept fingers pulled it down, brushing against her skin as you did so. She paused her nipping at the sensitive skin of your neck to maneuver out of it. She still had her garters on, which you found incredibly sexy. You have very little idea as to get them off her, anyways. Zelda didn’t seem to care all that much, though. Since the restrictive articles were removed, she climbed back on top of you, mindful of your bandages. 

Her red hair curtained your face, and a pool of desire formed in your core at the look she was giving you. 

You went to roll her over like you had the last time, but she stopped you. She pinned your good arm down above your head, gripping your wrist tightly. You hissed at the pain. That’s where your shackles had hung. The red-haired witch didn’t seem to care about your discomfort, in fact, when your eyes found hers, she was smirking like Lucifer himself. 

“I don’t think you're in any condition for that.” She chastised, her voice low. You were stunned still, your breath hitching at the precarious position she had you in. “In fact…” she moved to grab your other wrist from where it was gripping her side. Carefully she pulled it up over your head and pinned it down with your other hand. You heard her whisper a spell, but didn’t pay attention to the words, and immediately you felt two straps wrap around the sensitive skin there, binding them. “...I think that’s much better.” 

Her eyes locked with yours, her hands now free to run the length of your body once more. Her face was inches from yours. 

“I...” your voice trailed off, breathless. 

“You… what?” She dared you, her hands pausing at your waist. You swallowed. 

You opened your mouth to speak again, but just then you felt her brush over your clit through the dark green lace. You moaned into her ear and pressed into her fingers there, your eyes fluttering closed. 

She smirked. “That’s what I thought.” 

Zelda disappeared below your field of vision. The next thing you felt were her lips kissing you just above where your lace underwear clung to your hips, trailing along the line there. Your chest heaved up when you felt her tongue graze across the skin of your hips, her hands holding you in place. She nipped at the supple skin and then bit the lace, gripping it between her teeth. She pulled the knickers down without the use of her hands, breathing you in, leaving her hot breath in her wake. Once removed from your long toned legs, her hands dragging along them and feeling the muscles beneath, she climbed back atop you. You could see her eyes drinking your helpless form. Your arms unconsciously strained against the straps holding them in play. You wanted to touch her so badly. It was like torture. 

One finger ran the length of your heat agonizingly slow. You gasped at the light pressure, your eyes fluttering closed. You could practically feel her watching you squirm. She was able to turn you into such a mess so easily. Your hips tried to buck into her hand, but she tutted through her perfectly sculpted lips and held you squarely in place with the weight of her body. The tips of her fingers came to rest at your clit and began moving in gentle circles, getting you more wet than you already were. She slipped one finger between your folds, easily sliding to be buried deep within you, then a second one. You sighed at the feeling— so perfectly full. They moved out slowly, the friction agonizing, letting them become coated by your slick juices. You groaned at the speed, begging for more but unable to form any words to ask for such. She pumped them again, this time spreading them the width of your throbbing walls. The motion continued to turn you into a writing mess, you rocked your restricted hips as best you could into her as her speed steadily increased. Her mouth, which had previously been refusing to bless you with its sweet feeling, opting for the view of you instead, found its place trailing down you jaw once more. 

You got very close, your head rolling back into the plush pillows in pleasure. You let out a whining moan, begging for the release to come, but she stopped at the noise. Hecate, you could curse her for denying you. 

Her body shifted back down to your dripping heat, her hot breath breathing out on it. She placed startling precise open-mouthed kisses that slowly got closer to where you desired. When she finally arrived, her tongue dragged up your entirety. You groaned at the feeling of her lips brushing against your folds, lapping you up. Again, you felt delightfully restrained at not being able to dig your long fingers into her perfectly done hair as she worked, her tongue toying with just enough pressure at your clit. 

You were confused for a moment, because not a moment ago Zelda had been lapping your clit with adept perception and now you were looking into her darkened eyes. You realized, then, that the moment of hot breath on your sensitive bud had been her whispering another spell— The invisible hand— or well, tongue in this case. It allowed the feeling of her skilled mouth to continue without her. Luckily for you, her fingers had slipped inside you again, sliding in and out with outstanding speed. You wished her thin blouse had been stripped too so you could feel her skin against yours.

“I’m fucking you right now. Do you know why?”

You could hardly even comprehend her words. Your mind was muddled with the intense pleasure building up in your core. You could hardly even muster up the strength to open your eyes, let alone use your voice for anything other than airy gasps. 

“Answer me when spoken to.” She commanded. You bit back a moan.

“N-no.” You forced out through gritted teeth. You were so close, once again. Your toes curled at the feeling of her fingers stretching you, at the feeling of her familiar magic working your most sensitive area. Your walls were clenching around her fingers, your back arching up into her hand. The muscles in your arms strained against the straps as your head fell back into the pillows. 

Zelda placed a sweet kiss on your earlobe, her face buried in the crevice of your neck. It was a strange juxtaposition to her domineering words just before. 

“Because, I love you too.” She whispered in your ear just as you came, your body contorting at the powerful orgasm that washed over you in waves. You groaned. It was all so exhilarating. Zelda was exhilarating. She rode you through until you were done writhing under her, your eyes squeezed tight in bliss. 

The spells she casted faded away immediately. Your hands, now freed, came down to grip her face. You kissed her passionately, pulling her close to you. Your lips devoured hers, trying to express to her just how amazing she made you feel. 

She kissed you back. You could feel the smile forming on her lips. You finally pulled away, flushed, your eyes searching hers. Her pupils were blown, her smile reaching her eyes. You could help but mimic her easy grin. 

A string of thoughts came into your mind as to exactly what you wanted to say to her. 

‘Youre perfect.’ ‘You’re spectacular.’ ‘What would I do without you?’ But not one of them seemed to be able to capture it all. And, damn it, you couldn’t bear to ruin his moment with such inadequate words. So all you could do was let out a breathy laugh, your hands holding onto her. The moment was over too soon. Zelda rolled off of you and planted her feet onto the cold ground next to the bed. You frowned when she started picking up her discarded clothing. 

“Are you leaving?”

“I have an academy to run.” 

“What about...you?” She got the memo of what you were implying. She smoothed out the newly-formed wrinkles of her blouse and shrugged on her well-fitted blazer. 

“There will be time for that later, I’m sure.” She sat down on the edge of the bed to slip her heels on. You were probably gaping like a fish. Only a woman like her could manage to pull that off and then go back to work looking flawless. The only thing out of place on her was her smudged lipstick. She turned back to you. 

“Your lipstick is smudged.” You told her lightly. You’d wager that your eyes were shining at her. 

“I can tell. Your neck looks like you’ve been murdered. You might want to clean up before making your first appearance of the day.” She walked over to her vanity, easily wiping off the pigmented color and reapplying it perfectly. You hopped off the bed and pulled on your oversized cotton tee once more, making your way over to her. You took a look at your neck in the ornate mirror, leaning over her some. You were pretty sure that wasn’t just lipstick, but an array of hickies as well. Your lips had more color on them than Zelda’s had at the end. You flushed and used the back of your hand to wipe some of it off. “The bathroom is through there.” She pointed out, your eyes followed to where she was gesturing and you nodded. 

“I don’t have any clothing to wear.” 

“I’ll find you something.” She said dismissively, standing up to face you. Her hands came to rest on your strong shoulders, her eyes locking with yours. You nodded again. She leaned forward, planting a soft kiss on your lips. It was quick, but very welcome. “I’ll be in my office when you're ready.” 

Your bath was thoroughly relaxing. Every product you used of Zelda’s sent you into an aroma induced trance that made you think of her. You’d definitely smell identical to her by the end of it, aside from all the slaves she’d left out on the counter for you to bandage yourself up with. Next to the medical supplies was a change of clothing. They didn’t look like anything you’d seen Zelda don, but of course you could be wrong. She seemed to have a very extensive wardrobe, whereas you’d been working with the same suitcase full of clothing for weeks now. 

You slipped on the simple black dress. Thank Hecate Zelda hadn’t opted to throw you in a school uniform. That would’ve been very embarrassing, but your mind did briefly entertain some interesting fantasies, Zelda being Directrix and all. Unfortunately, the article did little to hide the love bites littered down your jaw and neck, but you couldn’t bring yourself to try and cover them up yourself. You brushed out your hair and laced up your boots before setting off through the Academy. Leaving the comfort of her quarters reminded you that there was a lot of work to do if the coven was going to defend against the Pagans. 

————————————-

You all had performed a summoning ritual to request reinforcements. It went smoothly, but you all wouldn’t know for sure if it worked until the stray witches decided to make an appearance. Ambrose had commented on you being up and at ‘em so soon. You’d told him that you’d actually be awake for a while. You’d seen the next question forming on his lips, ‘Well, what took you so long? Trying to get out of helping, were you?’. You flushed a little when he stopped all questions upon seeing the markings on your skin that Zelda had left. ‘Well, not exactly.’ 

Ambrose had the idea to use Lucifer’s essence on all doorways. You’d stopped him, though, explaining that it wouldn’t please Hecate for you all to do so. You had some sigils and rituals in mind that you all could perform instead. You just needed some torches and some ground serpent skin to request protection from her. 

Luckily, you’d found that most incantations translated well for Hecate, so you wouldn’t have to teach them too many. Mostly, it would be a spiritual and ritualistic change. You’d been explaining such to Zelda as you rushed through the halls of the academy, placing doubled torches and a line of serpent sheddings at the windows and doorways. It was understandable that she had some fears that the coven wouldn’t adapt well to this unknown culture. But you figured with the appropriate guidance, which Zelda was entirely double of giving them, they would be perfectly fine. Even now, after sharing your worship with them all, you felt a little guilty about explaining the religion. Aside from Hecate herself, there were parts of your Amazonian side which were complicated within themselves. Parts that you couldn’t yet explain to her, you barely understood them yourself. 

You, Zelda, Sabrina, and Ambrose made it to the heart of the academy. Zelda was leading you all dutifully on the mission. However, you were stopped by some

Visitors. The summoning ritual had worked. 

A voice sounded. “Why did you bring us here?” 

“Gryla.” 

“I heard your call. You summoned us here against our will.” At least ten witches stepped out then, Zelda greeting them all. But your eyes locked on one. A witch that you haven't seen for over a century, but you recognized her immediately. Your heart dropped to your gut. 

Things were clearly getting tense, but you were frozen in place. Gryla and the other witches were angry, you could vaguely make out Zelda trying her best to diffuse the hostility, but your mind was elsewhere. Feelings of abandonment and distrust flooded your mind, making it muddled. Then, the witch at the middle of your dissociation made herself know. Her familiar voice pulled you out of your trance. 

“Stop! We do not need to fight each other. That is what men do. We are women, n’est-ce pas? We can do more than fight, can we not?” Her words made your stomach roll with anger. Your fists clenched at your side. 

_Always so self-righteous, weren’t you Marie?_

“Who are you?” Zelda asked. Her eyes trained on the ebony skinned woman. 

“She’s Mambo Marie.” You stated confidently.

“You know her? Did you summon her?” Zelda turned to you, surprised. 

“I didn’t try too. Sometimes distress signals can work funnily— call upon witches unintentionally.” 

Mambo Marie spoke to you now, her eyes locking with you. You felt your magic radiate vibrantly. “I’ve been trying to find you, sister. I came when I heard your call for help.” The witch explained. You scowled.

“Well I don’t want you here. You’re too far too late.” 

“Really, ‘Esperana? It seems like I’m just on time? And you are clearly in need of numbers.” 

You scoffed. Your arms folding over your chest. All those petty feelings cling to you like smoke.

“She's right, Hesper.” Oh Hecate, if Zelda only knew. But she didn’t, and instead continued on. “We face a common enemy, and our choice is simple: unite or die.” 

_You’d rather jump off a cliff._

—————————————

You were in Zelda’s office, trying to convince yourself you weren’t avoiding Mambo Marie or any other of those barbaric hedge witches by flipping through some Amazonian scripture that you’d dug up. You’d have to find some sources that weren’t specifically Amazonian, but it was a start. 

You sighed, your thoughts jumping back to her. She had some real nerve showing up after all these years, especially when you told her you never wanted to see her face again. The issue was, you couldn’t deny your magic pulling towards her’s. She was your unblooded sister. In Amazonian culture, it meant you both were born at the same time, kindling your magic together for all eternity. And the idea was, when you both declared yourselves to Hecate, you’d both become more powerful for it. Only, Mambo Marie hadn’t declared herself to Hecate, single handedly stunting your magic for years just to trot around the globe practicing Haitian Vodou or whatever the Hell else she felt like. 

It was unbelievably selfish, forcing you to turn to Lucifer, at least until very recently. And then, of course, when the time suited her, and when she discovered you both shared a mét-tét, she tried to reconnect, make amends, but you refused. And now… she was back. Just like that, without consequence. You realized that you’d been reading the same line of your scripture several times by now. 

You looked up when Zelda stormed in, Prudence at her heels. Something had happened to upset her, it was clear. She looked furious. You raced your mind trying to figure out if you had done something yourself to upset her. Horrifyingly enough, it was clear she wasn’t just angry with the prefect witch, but also you. 

“Prudence convinced your guest to perform a some Hatian Vodou ritual with the academy walls.” 

“I told you, I didn’t invite her here. You’re the one that wanted her to stay.” 

“Well now this perfect stranger, who apparently no one wants here, is practicing foreign magic within our Academy walls. And you, Prudence, encouraged it.” 

“Please, Headmistress Spellman, her magic is just as foreign as ours is now. We need to be open minded and adapt if we’re going to win this fight. We barely even know Hecate, but you still accepted her.” 

“That witch is a Catholic, for Hell’s sake.” 

You sighed. Your soft spot for Mambo Marie and the fact that you all were desperate for reinforcements was getting to you. “Zelda, maybe Prudence has a point. Mambo Marie isn’t dangerous.” 

Her eyes flashed wildly at you. You could feel Mambo Marie’s magic before she even rounded the corner.

“No more dangerous than you are, ‘Esperana.” Your head whipped around to the sound of her smooth voice. She was directing her words at you, but then she turned to the rest of the room. “But I can tell that I have frightened you, Headmistress Spellman, with my ceremony. You are wary of the unknown.” 

“‘Esperana can attest, I do not work with spirits that I do not know and trust.. But perhaps if you knew me better, I would not be quite so fearsome. ” You were immediately reminded of the days when you two would experiment with all sorts of magic, just to try it out. It had been exhilarating, but Mambo Marie was always careful about being safe back then. It was like she had an inborn compass, a wisdom about her that you didn’t possess. That all ended for you, though, when you split paths with her. 

She stepped forward to Zelda. “I am Mambo Marie LeFleur, Vodouisant of the Fourth Ward.” She stuck out her hand to Zelda, who eyed it wearily. You watched the interaction intently. Hesitantly, Zelda’s hand reached hers. Mambo Marie gripped Zelda’s hand, turning it over to her palm and pulling your witch close to her. You felt your shoulders stiffen as the dark witch casted her head to the sky. 

“I can see your mét-tét. He is beautiful. Powerful. I can see that you and ‘Esperana are more alike that you know. She and I, we share a mét-tét, you know.” 

She continued, eyes locking on Zelda’s. “It is true, I came at my Sister’s call, whether she wanted me to or not,” Mambo Marie glanced at you, a sad smile on her lips. “But I have been waiting for our reunion— this invitation— all my life.” She pulled Zelda closer to herself. 

“My mét-tét— ‘Esperana’s mét-tét— told me, long ago, that something was coming.” You felt something churn in your stomach at her choice of words, your eyes widening slightly. You too, had been told that something was coming by a greater spirit. Mambo Marie continued. You could see Zelda staring into her dark brown eyes, completely entranced by them. It caused a rush of jealousy to run through you. “Something very old and very evil, and that if I could summon my courage, I might play a role in helping to beat it back.”

She finally let go of Zelda’s hand, but not before running her finger tips over the top of her palm. Your teeth gritted a little. But despite your feelings, it was becoming increasingly clear that you and Mambo Marie were on a very similar mission. And, that you’d need her help. The Vodou witch turned to you, her eyes as bright as always. “But I’m also here, to try and make up for abandoning you. If you will allow me too.” 

Your heart panged at her words. Maybe this was how it was supposed to play out all along. You searched her eyes and found only sincerity. You nodded. “Okay.” She smiled brightly. “But, I would like a word with you.” You glanced at Zelda. “Privately, if possible.” 

The other two left. The room felt very empty and still without them. “I’m glad to see you have finally found your soulmate.” Mambo Marie said. It was genuine, you could tell. You have known this witch for a long time. Your mother had ensured that you two grew up with each other in your lives. You grew up as sisters, in truth, but… things changed over time, towards the end. Love blossomed and then crashed to the ground. 

“Me too.” You replied. Your eyes were unable to meet hers. It was all so… heavy. The past was so heavy.

But then you found the courage to say what was truly bothering you. A century ago, you two always told each other the truth. You didn’t see the point in stopping now. “And you are going to respect that she is my soulmate, not yours, correct?” Your voice was soft, but your strain was clear. She had been far too entranced by Zelda for your liking, and Zelda by her.

“I wouldn’t do that to you.” 

Your eyes flashed viciously at her. “I saw the way you were looking at her, Marie. Our magic is too similar for you not to feel a pull towards her.” The feeling you felt towards Zelda had always been easy, perfect. Less of a pull and more of a steady attraction, which always managed to bring you two close without trying. Zelda’s magic was intoxicatingly separate from yours, and opposite, whereas Marie’s was identical. Which was also the reason why Zelda drifted towards the stunning witch in front of you. 

“I will not deny that, but, I promise my reading of her was not any more than me trying to gain her trust. She is a more perfect match for you than I could ever have imagined.” 

You nodded, your eyes closing just for a second of reprieve from the stress of this conversation. Mambo Marie had always been so easy with the truth. She could lay it out before all and not offend a soul. You always tried so hard to do the same, but you repeatedly got stuck in the mud, worrying that the truth wouldn’t go down as easy coming from you. Waiting for the right moment to speak it. And then when you did, it was tactless, blunt. 

But with Marie, all you two had gone to, you didn't care if you hurt her feelings, or if the hard truth didn’t go down easy. “What you were saying earlier, about something coming, something evil. I received a warning too, from Hecate.” 

“You were able to Declare?” 

You nodded. “I’m not sure how, but she came to me in a dream. She told me that I was to fulfill a prophecy in her honor, as her champion.” 

Mambo Marie nodded a little, her lips parting in understanding. “What prophecy?” She asked carefully. 

You swallowed visibly, your eyes finding hers. “A prophecy to retrieve Pandora’s Box, so that I may help to prevent the destruction of the Cosmos.” 

She paused, her eyes casting up to the ceiling in deep thought. You realized then, that Mambo Marie was much closer to you than you realized. She easily reached out to hold your hand. The familiar touch allowed her to pull your palm up to her full lips with a lick of resistance from you. At the finer touch of her lips, though, you ripped your hand away. 

“Don’t touch me, Marie.” You seethed out.

“I’m sorry.” She rushed out. 

“Are you?” You hissed out. 

“I shouldn’t have done that. Truly, I did come here to make amends, to apologize and fulfil my duty. That was a mistake. A habit.” 

You pulled your hand back to you, cradling in in your other. Your shoulders squared against her. Hecate, some part of you truly hated her for how she behaved towards the end, before she left. She’d know just a well as you had that you wouldn’t ever love her like you did Zelda. You two were supposed to be sisters, that was all. You just missed how it was before, when you were both just two witches, two friends, trying to figure out your way in the world. Then she’d lost you.

“Just don’t do that again. Please. Keep your promises. Don’t step on people's toes anymore. Help the coven. Do you understand?” 

“I do. Entirely.” 

Hecate, the only person you wanted right now was Zelda. You missed the strength she gave you. The comfort. 

You spoke again, your tone serious. “Good. You’re here to help this coven, that’s all. I think, perhaps, we both have duties to fulfill in what is to come.”   
————————————


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More chapters to comes

It was strange for everything to be over. Really over. You felt as though you just weaved through a maze riddled with obstacles these last few months, making choices that weren’t really up to you. Meeting Zelda, for one thing, had felt as though fate had fallen severely behind in its plans. You had grown up believing you’d spend your entire life with her. The best time of your life— the time when you were supposed to be the happiest and most at ease with her— was just now able to recover from the strain you’d all been through. Your Belle had become your anchor when you hadn’t been able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Luckily, Pandora’s Box had been the ultimate prison for Lucifer. It imprisoned him easily. So easily. _So why was it so hard to get to that point?_ You’d fought so hard to make it to this point, for this peace. Unfortunately, the victory had not come easy, even with the powers of destiny on your side. 

Zelda had gotten shot by good ol’ Mary Wardwell. _That bitch, she truly deserved to be pounded into the damned earth._ Unfortunately, you’d both been too preoccupied at the time of the event to go after her, and then forbidden by the Spellmans later on from going after her. You didn’t even know how the mortal woman managed it. Zelda had her powers, she should’ve been able to defend herself, but all you heard was the unmistakable sound of gunfire. Horrible chills ran down your body at the blinding ringing left in your ears. You’d dropped your glass of scotch onto the floor, your gut twisting like a reflex, but you didn’t hear the tumbler shatter. Or, more probably, you couldn’t have cared less about the scattered glass on the floor at the time. You’d known immediately that something horrid had happened. The image of Zelda’s dying body, the light snapped from her irises, would be etched into your mind for the rest of your life. But more memorably, the cig smouldering out on the runner next to her limp hand flashed to the forefront of your mind. You’d just frozen. Sabrina had been so scared, Zelda had been bleeding out, and you didn’t do a thing. Hecate damn it, you hadn’t thought you’d be able to handle losing her at all. You felt your world crumbing down around you as it all happened— rendered useless, your mind broken, your body utterly shaken. But luckily, she pulled through with the help of Mambo Marie. The witch kept her promise and protected the coven. That alone had been enough for you to forgive the her. Marie had finally been there when you needed her most... and she’d saved Zelda. 

You’d been so afraid that your Belle wouldn’t ever wake up, but you channeled your every energy into her anyways. When she came to, you didn’t feel relief or happiness. You’d felt as though your life had been set back into place. Like the earthquake had finally settled and your feet could finally recognize the sturdy earth beneath you once more. You’d been surprised to hear that Zelda had some spectacular epiphany about Hecate when she awoke. Her physical and metaphysical awakening reformed her nonexistent connection to the deity completely. Your lip turned up at the news. Zelda had been very concerned about her ineptness to worship your Goddess and lead the coven. She confided in you about an emptiness when she spoke the prayers, when she led worship, and that her lack of knowledge left her feeling incompetent. Alas, your witch even managed to resurrect Hilda with the help of Hecate. It had been positively epochal. Directly following that, the coven was strengthened enough to take on the Pagans head-on, emerging victorious. 

You’d been standing with your feet planted firmly into the earth when a gust of wind came that brushed past none except yourself. It was nothing more than a whisper in your ear, but you knew it meant so much more. The final calling. You enlisted the help of Mambo Marie to locate Faustus Blackwood in whatever desolate place he’d wandered off to— the place where he was wasting away to his death. Ambrose and Prudence came with you. They had wanted to see the full circle end of their pathetic father figure. When you found him, his body was nothing but skin and bones. His hair had grown disgustingly matted and his eyes shut in meditative peace. Rage filled you at his outward content. The man deserved much worse. The three of you lit the rotten shell of the warlock on fire. He didn’t even flinch as the hellfire engulfed his form and you didn’t flinch at the dank smell of burning flesh. It was a reward— a means to an end. As you watched his wretched body burn, the smoke trailing up into the air, you felt a weight lift off your shoulders. Something had told you that you’d finally fulfilled Hecate’s calling.   
  


_Now what?_

Your mind asked you. You didn’t know the answer to that right off the bat. Your life has been more stressful than you realized these last months. And now, with none of the issues to bog you down or propel you forward, you stood aimless for a moment. Well... you knew what you wanted to do. You wanted to go home to the Mortuary, eat a home-cooked dinner with the Spellmans, and fall asleep in Zelda’s waiting arms.

Besides, there was still an Academy to run, a wedding to plan, and the Order of Hecate to build up. There was plenty to do, certainly. You had the rest of your life waiting for you. 

————————————

It wasn’t too early in the morning, the sun was already peaking through the windows. You could even see the dust particles drifting through the air as the soft beams caught them. On weekends like this, Prudence watched Jude— that’s what you had begun calling Judas— and Leticia all day, so none of the inhabitants of Spellman Mortuary ever neglected to sleep in. Miraculously, you and Sabrina had somehow convinced Zelda to drop the twins off at mortal daycare on the weekdays since there was no one else to watch them. But, that meant you sometimes had to wake up much earlier than you wished. Zelda had bargained that if you insisted _‘the future_ ’ of the coven be cared for by mortals, then _you_ would have to get the twins prepped in the mornings and deliver them. Mornings like this, as a result, were a blessing. But, alas, Ambrose was even up. He tended to drag behind heavily on weekends, and not crawl out of his attic until midday. The fine day certainly was shaping up to be interesting. 

You sat quietly to Zelda’s left at the table, trying desperately to inhale your piping coffee so that you could even attempt to keep up with the conversation around you. Zelda knew better than to try and have any real discussions with you before your caffeine fix, but it seemed that she was already up and at ‘em with Hilda. They were discussing the blessed wedding… again.

“Uhg, we have been through this already!” Your eyes, which were previously pouring down into your mug in blank thought, snapped up to Hilda’s exclamation. “All I want is a nice, quiet, family wedding. A small ceremony right here in our parlor, and candles, and a fire, and everybody dressed as their favorite movie monsters.” Your lip quirked up at the idea. You actually thought that sounded quite nice. 

“Please, do stop bleating, Sister. You’ll give me a migraine.” Zelda’s voice sounded from next to you. You raised one eyebrow turning to look at her. She sat with perfect posture, chin high, and cig held in hand. 

_She’s not going to squash Hilda’s little dreams, is she?_

Just then Sabrina entered, she greeted everyone, already impressed with the squabbling going on today. 

“Good Morning, Sabrina.” You greeted her back as cheerfully as you could muster instead of getting involved in the two sisters’ row. She smiled at you before turning to the rest of the room’s occupants.

“Is everything okay?” She asked. You flashed her a knowing look from behind your coffee mug. _Yes, Sabrina, this fine morning has steadily blossomed into an absolute ray of sunshine._ Zelda side eyed you from where she was reading her newspaper, catching your small smirk. 

“Yes, it’s fine. You know, well, it’s hunky-dory, actually, because your Aunt Zee wants to make my wedding all about her.” 

_Oh, Hecate, this can’t be ending well._

Zelda snapped down her newspaper. You gulped, eyes wide, but fully invested in what was to come. Truth be told you were eating this up from the sidelines, no matter how fog brained you were. 

Hilda continued, her eyes flighting between you and Zelda. “ _Even though_ she will probably be planning a wedding of her own, you know, soon enough.” The blonde witch gestured between the two of you. Your eyebrows shot up in surprise and you downright choked on your coffee. It sloshed onto the table as you had a short coughing fit. Everyone’s eyes were on you. Your cheeks flushed brilliantly. “Shit—“, you coughed weakly, grabbing the napkins to clean up your mess, “—Sorry.” 

Zelda’s single eyebrow rose menacingly at you, her mouth parted slightly in surprise at your unintentional violent response. After a beat, she ripped her eyes away from your frantic whipping and decided to ignore whatever just happened, instead directing her energy back towards Hilda. Or at least, she pretended to ignore it. The witch squared her shoulders. “Hilda?” 

“Yes?” 

“As High Priestess of the Order of Hecate, it is my solemn duty to officiate the weddings and funerals of all my congregation.” She spoke pointedly. Then she seemed to allow her agitation to catch up with her. “You, despite what you may think, are no exception.” Her voice raised slightly and you couldn’t help but feel responsible for the lashing Hilda was receiving. 

You let out a sigh in sync with Hilda, both of you fearing the High Priestess’s wrath. The plump witch spoke. “Right. Fine.” She deflated. 

Zelda, upon hearing that she had won the fight, directed her attention back to her paper. You frowned heavily but you were unable to meet her gaze. That was possibly _the worst_ reaction to the prospect of marriage you’d ever witnessed. You couldn’t believe yourself, you wanted to hide your face in your hands with a groan, but you didn’t. It seemed that both you and Zelda, well mostly Zelda, had decided you were both going to pretend you hadn’t just taken a spit take. 

You heard Hilda mention the reception at Dorian’s to Sabrina. Her niece would be her flower girl and make the toast, which was very sweet. You were quite excited to attend a wedding, the last one you’d attended had been your Brother’s wedding about thirty years ago. You’d never attended a wedding in the name of Hecate, either. You were also pretty sure ancient Amazonian witches didn’t even practice marriage. That wasn’t to say that new precedent couldn’t be set with the coven, though. It wasn’t like Hecate condemned matrimony, you’d just never seen any writing about it. You turned to Hilda, an idea blossoming.

“I could look through some Amazonian traditions, while they didn’t practice marriage there are some constants in all celebrations. Maybe some blessings from Hecate too, and see if you want to adopt any of them.” You offered.

Hilda lit up. “Oh, of course! that sounds wonderful, Hesper, thank you.” She smiled at you, clearly trying to elude to your supportive nature, hoping that you may rub off on Zelda. 

You thought for a moment. “Actually, if you are up for it, Hecate is normally pleased when there are hounds present for any special occasion.” The image of your mother’s familiar, a border collie named Maisie, flashed to your mind. The poor old girl had been dragged to just about every Amazonian ritual you partook in as a child. The pup took it like a champ though. 

“Hounds? Do you think your Gus would be up for it?” She asked you, you nodded and took another sip of coffee. Hilda had refilled your mug after your little fit. Something seemed to dawn on her, though. “It’s a shame Vinegar Tom isn’t around for this, though, isn’t it Zelds?” Zelda finally looked up from her newspaper. She seemed to have been completely entranced by it, but by the sour expression on her face, you would waver that she may have been thinking of something else. 

“Dogs in the Desecrated Church? I should think not.” She declared, her tone very short. You were a little surprised by this. Normally, Zelda was very accommodating with any new information or traditions that you had to offer to the coven. _And,_ even more, Zelda loved dogs. 

“Oh come on, Zelda, it would just be Gus.” She begged and gestured to your familiar laying sleepily right next to you. “He’s so well behaved.” That was a bit of an overstatement. Just the other day you’d caught him nipping a banger off the kitchen counter, the devil. And when you gave him any commands at all, you received nothing more than a blank stare. 

Zelda glanced down at the Great Dane, considering him. She noticeably avoided looking at you. She sighed and grumbled. “Fine. But only for Hecate’s sake.” She returned her gaze to Hilda. “That reminds me, we’ll have to exorcise your groom’s sex demon once and for all. Damascus steel won’t do much good on your wedding night, and the last thing you want is to be torn limb from limb by an incubus.” 

“I can help, I’m not busy today.” You spoke up, mostly just to get Zelda’s attention. _Have you ever performed an exorcism on an incubus? No, but you did have a few regular demons under your belt. And, yes, you definitely wanted to be there when the lust-deranged monster from hell was ripped from the poor man, just to see what it is like._

Zelda imperceptibly rolled her gray eyes and looked back down at her newspaper, grumbling out so that those around could barely hear. “If you're not too occupied _choking on your coffee_.” 

Everyone paused, their eyes widening slightly at the red-haired witch’s words. She’d never thrown shade at you like that. Not ever. Zelda didn’t even bother to look up from her paper, as if it were nothing were amiss. And she certainly had no intention of leaving her spot at the head of the table. Hilda, Ambrose, and Sabrina immediately took that as their cue to scatter, all coming up with some excuse, and all having the most pitiful expressions on their face for you. Hilda even mouthed you a whispered ‘ _good luck’._

“Zelda, honestly, Hilda just caught me off guard.” 

She finally snapped her paper down, her glare leveled towards you. “You embarrassed me in front of my family.” She reprimanded you. Well that was a little outlandish. If anything you embarrassed _yourself_ in front of her family. “Why would you be surprised by something like that?” 

You gulped, trying to find the right words. “Well, We’ve never talked about marriage before. For Hecate’s sake, things are just now starting to settle down here. _We’re_ just now starting to settle down.” She frowned, her eyes softening at you. It was true, you were still living out of your suitcase. You were still living out of the spare bedroom, and you’d barely even begun to think about your classes at the academy. Certainly there was something deeper going on now. And as much as you didn’t particularly feel as though _now_ was the time to be digging it all up, it was clearly bothering Zelda. You reached your hand out to grasp her hand drumming agitatedly on the surface of the table. Your body leaned towards her more, trying to take her all in. She looked very nice today. Her deep maroon blouse clung to her, her makeup was done perfectly, and she was well adorned with plenty of jewelry. You found yourself getting easily lost in her like always, but you forced yourself to speak.

“What’s actually going on, _Ma Belle?”_ You lowered your voice, earnesty dripping from it. Your eyes tried to find hers. She frowned, her eyes drawing into herself, hesitant. You gave her hand one more gentle squeeze, urging her to speak her mind. “I’m concerned about Hilda getting married.”

“But It’s a good thing, isn’t it? A wonderful thing, even. We should be celebrating.” You tried to keep your tone light. 

Zelda ripped her hand away from yours, once again sitting up rod straight, her expression cold. “She’s going to leave, Hesper.”

“She’s not moving to a different continent. She’ll still be around, like on the weekends when we’re not at the academy.” 

She frowned, her hands folding in her lap. “I know that.” She defended. She knew she was being a little irrational, and so did you, but you were going to figure out why. A good talk never hurt anyone. 

“But…?” You pushed her a little further.

Zelda’s eyes flashed at you, angry. Normally you would never force Zelda to talk about something she didn’t want to, but this wasn’t just about her and you, it was about the whole family. She huffed, a little embarrassed to admit it, the strain was clear in her voice. “I don’t want to be left alone.” She folded her arms. “Hilda is leaving, Sabrina has her duties in Hell. And then how you reacted about the idea of marriage… it made me think you may abandon me too.” 

_Oh, so that’s what it is. That’s… not good. No one should ever be afraid of their loved ones leaving them._

You nodded in understanding. “I’m not going anywhere, Zelda, you know that. And everyone else is just… spreading their wings a little.” 

“Yes, well, I let my emotions cloud my judgment.”

She threw her hand up in the air dissmissadly, her eyes rolling at herself. You found the behavior endearing. 

“I’m sorry.” She said. Oh, your sweet witch. You felt as though her time with you had made her just an inkling better at dealing with her emotions, which made your heart glow. You had a way of making her spill her guts to you. 

You gave her a sad smile, your eyes gentle. “Don’t apologize.” You leaned over the corner of the kitchen table. Zelda let you brush your lips against her own, your hand coming to hold the side of her face, carefully avoiding her earrings. It was an impish kiss, coffee fresh on your breath, but she leaned into it anyways.

Her hand came up to grip your own which was holding her face. _Like hell, you were going anywhere. You wouldn’t leave for the world. Not again._

————————————-

The rest of the Spellman’s were back at the academy. You’d been assigned the help of Nicolas and Melvin to exorcise the incubus from Dr. Cee. You’d been to his shop before. You quite liked the atmosphere he’d curated, although, you didn’t particularly think it was the appropriate place for an exorcism. In any case, you’d made a solemn promise to Hilda that you’d be gentle with the man. 

From what you’d gathered, though, the incubus had been afflicting him for a long while, which would make the exorcism even more difficult. You supposed a woman’s touch would be necessary for the excruciating pain he would surely endure. These two teenage warlocks, although talented, would surely not be able to handle something like this alone. 

Nicolas, you found, was overconfident as usual. Who the hell compares an exorcism to pulling a tooth? 

Unfortunately, you soon found that your very presence around the incubus made Dr. Cee’s demon extraordinarily agitated. It must’ve been your Amazonian side, which was concerning. You were sure how you were supposed to gently coerce out the demon if it inherently wanted to tear you apart limb from limb. It occurred to you that you’d never really met Dr. Cee other than in passing, so this probably wasn’t the best bonding experience you two could have. The closer you got to him, the more infuriated the demon became. 

“No offense, Professor Rosier, but maybe you should sit this one out.” Nicolas stated, eyes trained between you and the yellow flashing eyes of Dr. Cee. “It shouldn’t be too difficult. There’s nothing a male demon fears more than the _divine feminine._ ” 

At his last words, the strapped up groom roared with rage, his eyes flashing a dangerous yellow. You reacted immediately when it flew at you, throwing up a shield charm with incredible speed. The demon bounced off your charm and richoched out of the room, through the door to the main shop. 

You gasped, breathless, and turned immediately to the two boys. “Fucking divinity, we have to go after it!” 

“How? It could’ve latched onto any host by now.” 

Just then you heard the shop’s bell ring, alerting you that you someone was leaving the shop. You ran out, navigating your way through the shelves, and pushed open the glass door. Your eyes scanned the passerbyers, but you couldn’t discern which one of them had just been possessed by a raging sex demon. You groaned. “Fuck.” 

_Zelda is going to be so pissed._

And she was. You stood in front of your lover, positively ashamed of yourself as she berated you three to nothing. “And you, Professor Rosier. I expected more from you.” You couldn’t bring yourself to disagree with her. You should’ve been able to handle it all. And the way she said your title, oh, it made your heart sting. 

“It really wasn’t her fault, Headmistress Spellman. The incubus leapt out at her. She had to throw up a shield charm within a split second or she probably wouldn’t be standing here now.” Melvin defended you. It was a nice gesture, but he didn’t need to be sticking his neck out for you.

Zelda sighed, her eyes gazing over at you in resigned defeat. But her frustration soon boiled over once again, this time directed at the warlocks. You could see the gears behind her eyes turning, weighing out her options. 

“You two must make sure this demon doesn’t get near the groom or any of our other male guests. Am I clear?” The two nodded in understanding and promptly left the room. Zelda walked behind her desk to where she stored her booze. She gripped the bottle firmly and poured herself one hefty glass, not offering you any. It made you feel incredibly subordinate. When she turned around, her gaze was thoroughly exasperated. 

“How is it that you are always the one under attack?”

She took a deep sip of her amber liquor without a wince. “You promised me you wouldn’t get in any more trouble.” 

“Well, I didn’t exactly expect a male demon to leap from its host and try to murder me.” You felt a frown tugging at the corners of your lips. “How could I know that my blood would send the thing into a frenzy?” 

“Your Amazonian witchcraft has caused a lot of trouble in the past and it continues to do so.” She wasn’t saying it to belittle your magic, she was just making a point. You could tell it came from a place of concern, no matter how harsh her tone was. Truth was, she was right.

“There’s a lot I don’t know about it still. There aren’t many ways for me to learn about it, either.” 

You'd discussed this with Zelda before. Everything you knew about your Amazonian witchcraft you learned from your mother. Eileen had always been weary to delve deep into it, thanks to your father. You’d always felt as though she’d kept certain things from you. It wasn’t like you were kept in the dark, but you definitely barely scratched the surface. 

“You should invite your mother to stay in Greendale after the wedding. I’m sure she has insight about Hecate that could develop the coven, too.” Zelda suggested. You frowned in thought. You’re mother would definitely want to see where you’d arguably be spending the rest of your life. You’d bet she’d want to see Mambo Marie, too. Then, maybe, you could figure out some of the things about your bloodlines that have been avoided all these years. 

“I suppose I could ask. I’m surprised you're okay with her coming after what happened back in Dinan.”

She shrugged, you hand coming to rest on her hip, outlining her figure. “Your father was much more distasteful than her. And, it ended up rather satisfactory after we made our departure.” That night at the cabin had been very nice. If you could erase the memories of what followed, you would. 

You smirked and settled down into the chair at the front of her desk. “I’ll write to her then.” 

Zelda seemed pleased at your agreement. There was a pause, your mind jumped back to the wedding that was taking place tomorrow. “Have you thought of what you’ll be saying as the officiant tomorrow? You’ll be setting a fairly large precedent.” 

“Yes, I’ve figured out something suitable. Thank you, by the way, for dropping off those scriptures. They helped greatly.” She paused in thought. “You have something to wear tomorrow, don’t you?” 

_Shit. You hadn’t thought about that at all. You didn’t have anything nice enough to wear to a wedding._

Zelda saw your expression. “Great.” She grumbled sarcastically. “You’ll have to go shopping. I don’t have anything for you and I seriously doubt that anyone will be able to cough up a decent dress for you.” 

“Shopping where? In Greendale?” 

“Yes. I’ll have Sabrina take you later today, if she’s not busy with her duties in Hell.”

“I seriously doubt Sabrina wants to take her Aunt’s girlfriend— oh, don’t look so surprised, that's what we are to those teenagers— she won’t want to take me shopping, especially during the limited free time she has.” 

“Sabrina will do as I say. Besides, she has taken a shining to you.” You pulled a face of disbelief. Zelda blatantly ignored it, instead focusing on her paperwork once more. “Oh, and do get yourself some more everyday clothing, too. I’ve seen you in that exact outfit twice this week.” 

———————————

Going shopping had been, surprisingly enough, a blast. Sabrina has excellent taste and she knew some great places hit around the tiny down of Greendale; thrift stores, boutiques, even a friend from her school who was an aspiring seamstress. It was great to spend some one-on-one time with her. The only time you’d truly spent getting to know the girl outside of your classes and with the other Spellmans had been when you two watched Jude and Leticia weeks ago. She had seemed a little reserved at first, the regular pleasantries about your classes droning on. Well, not exactly droning on. Sabrina had shown some excitable interest in the Egyptian hieroglyphics you’d had the class decipher the day prior, which truly did invigorate you with motivation for your lectures. You’d been happy to hear that your lessons weren’t just boring prerequisites for the young witches. She was trying with you, and so put forth your best effort with her. The quality time, you found, was proving worthwhile. Especially when she spoke about her mortal friends. You’d never been particularly keen on mortals, but you’d grown up surrounded by them like many other witches, and it was so nice to see her light up when she told you ridiculous stories about them and their adventures. Zelda was right, the both of you got on famously enough. 

Sabrina did push you out of your plain realm of tattered jeans and simple dresses. She dug through just about every rack at the thrift store, yanking a myriad of articles off the rack and holding it out to you. It was as if she’d done this a million times. At the boutique, you let her stick you in some truly beautiful pieces that you never would’ve considered had she not been there. You found that the obscure items— exuberantly patterned vintage dresses, calf length skirts, and men’s trousers— actually did suit you nicely. You both had big smiles on your faces at the end. 

Then of course, she dragged you to her friend Alyssa’s house. Well, her garage, you supposed. She and her mother seemed to be running some sort of business together by making and selling clothing. The mortal girl's mother was very nice too. She even asked you how Zelda was doing after you’d been introduced as her partner by Sabrina. ( _Not girlfriend, but you were rather close_ ). Apparently, the Spellman sisters had managed a rather beautiful ceremony for the woman when her husband died. You smiled and told her all was well, but you knew, in the back of your mind, that the widow’s husband was definitely harvested for some particularly gruesome ingredients ( _dead man’s toes and such_ ). Such things came with the territory. 

Molly, Alyssa’s mother. offered you a glass of wine, which you happily obliged to, and got to work shuffling through a variety of dresses she and her daughter had crafted. She would occasionally gasp or murmur excitedly to herself before yanking some beautiful gown off the rack. There were so many, the pile growing so quick, that you could hardly keep up. You decided to down the rest of your wine before you could continue any further, and then helped yourself to a second glass. Sabrina giggled a little at you when you did so. _‘Aunt Zee is rubbing off on you, Hesper.’_ She teased you. But you knew Zelda would have an absolute ball shopping through this many hand-crafted gowns, so long as they suited her taste. Sabrina, after a moment of considering this, was right. Zelda definitely would want a drink for something like this in any case, no matter how enjoyable. 

You actually never minded dress shopping, it could be fun with the right people. Normally you weren’t made such a spectacle out of, though. It didn’t bother you too much, because when you finally slipped on the dress, everyone exclaimed excitedly. _“_ That’s it, that’s perfect Hesper. You have to get it!” Sabrina urged happily. 

“It really is very nice on you. And your height makes it all the better.” You smiled at Molly’s words and ran your hand down the nice fabric. It was truly a nice dress. It fit like a glove. You’d want to wear your hair up to show off the detail, but that wasn’t a problem. And it was low cut in the back, not completely backless, but it did put your pretty soulmate mark on display. 

“Well, if you all insist.” You fluttered out cheekily.

_Oh Zelda will love this, won’t she?_

…

You slipped on the simple silken dark green dress, your arms easily gliding through the long selves. You liked the color, it’s brought out the jade in your hazel eyes. It was a very light material and had a very subtle ivy pattern in it. You thought Zelda would like the way it hugged you, showing off your long figure. Sabrina had helped you with a perfectly loose bun for your large quantity of hair— it had only taken a few tries— and then did some makeup for you. You could see where Zelda got the idea Sabrina had taken a shining to you, by now. She seemed lightened when you came around asking for help, happily accepting the company. Something was bothering the young witch, you could tell just as plainly as you could tell when your witch was off-put, but you didn’t force her to tell you. Surely, she always had something troubling on her plate with everything she had going on. 

You reached your arms around to fasten the gold buttons trailing up your back, but couldn’t reach. You were still fiddling hopelessly with them, trying to look over your shoulder in the mirror of your room when Zelda entered without knocking. She clearly had something important to say, but she paused as soon as she latched eyes on you. You turned to her, a small smile on her face. 

_Zelda had never seen you all dressed-up like this before, has she? Even during the hare moon, you’d been worse for wear._

She swallowed, her eyes visibly glazing over. Her hand had found its way to toy with her hair absentmindedly as she took you in. Her tongue darted out to brush across her lip before she spoke. “You clean up nicely.” Your heels, albeit not very high, gave you an even greater advantage over the witch as you approached her. You brushed your hand against her shoulder teasingly.

“Thank you.” You purred out. “Would you button me up?” You asked and turned around before she replied, knowing that she would oblige. You felt two nimble fingers touch at the base of your spine, pulling the fabric that clung there tight. You felt Zelda lean close, her head bowing down to breathe hot breath on your soulmate mark. The sensation sent shivers down your spine. 

“Looking like this, you may steal the show from the Bride and Groom.” She murmured against you. Her hands had finished their work, but you felt them slide to rest on your hips. You were busy trying to think of something clever to say, but all thoughts ceased when you felt her lips press a delicious kiss to your soulmate mark. Like always, your knees almost buckled at the feeling, but you only leaned back into Zelda’s grasp more. _She had a quite unfair advantage over you, simply because of where your mark is positioned. You had to wrangle her out of layers to get to hers._ You could feel her rose perfume rubbing off on you, invading your senses. You were sure it would linger for the rest of the night.

“You’ve always enjoyed the finer things in life. Perhaps…” You began, but paused for a moment. Zelda’s hand creeped upwards, gliding against the fabric as her tongue gingerly touched the sensitive skin of your shoulder blade. “... I should dress up more often.” You sighed out the last part. 

Just then, you heard Hilda shout from down the hallway that it was time to make departure. Zelda ceased, pulling away from you some. “We should get going.” She stated, as if she hadn’t just turned you to complete mush. Your eyes fluttered open, you hadn’t realized you closed them. She took your right hand in hers left and led you out the door. 

—————————————

The wedding ceremony went beautifully. Hilda had been positively glowing. You were happy that she had a day to relish in the spotlight, almost like a cat in the sun. She’d had some nerves before making her big appearance, understandably so, but luckily Sabrina had been behind those big oak doors to calm her. She and Dr. Cee were absolutely beaming at each other when she finally made it down the aisle. Gus behaved well and there wasn’t a single incident with a certain stray incubus, so you’d call it all a success. Zelda gave a perfectly suitable sermon to the coven. It was rather cut and dry, but towards the end she truly did say some beautiful things about the Bride and the Groom… and about love. You were almost—- _almost—_ brought to tears when you caught her glancing at you. 

_Hecate, you loved her. And she looked positively exquisite standing up there. Her words were so powerful… so clear._

You clapped and smiled cheerfully when Hilda and Dr. Cee made their way down the aisle, hand and hand. They brought a hopeful meaning to the word _unified_. You found Zelda after the ceremony, ready to make your way to Dorians, but first to congratulate her. She had done so well. She brushed you off like it was nothing, but you could tell that some part of her was so proud of what happened in the desecrated church that day, her chin high, her eyes crinkling with an inkling of joy.

She left a fleeting touch down your arm before she went to speak with one of the guests. They glanced your way, and you took that as your cue to say hello. When you did, Zelda introduced you as her soulmate, a gleam in her eye. You were a little caught off guard, but when she claimed you so openly your chest swelled. 

The reception was even more fantastic. The music, the excitement, the celebration, it was all so perfect. You’d already spoken to Hilda, given her and Dr. Cee your congratulations and told them what a wonderful job everyone did. They seemed so very happy. Well.. there was a small hiccup with drunk Sabrina’s horrid speech, but you mostly just found it thoroughly amusing. Zelda hadn’t shared your sentiments. She casted you a hotly abashed glare before marching off to deal with her niece. 

Zelda was being a little minx, and it was becoming more and more of an issue for you as the evening carried on. One minute she would touch you fleetingly, seductively; a brush across your arm, your hand, a teasing hold at the small of your back, your thigh, your face. Her eyes were smoldering. She would introduce your as her partner or her soulmate, a sweet smile flashing your way. And then, she would effectively evade you by having a chat with the guests, dealing with the many ongoings of the evening, or slipping away to the bar. Her behavior was leaving you flustered and needy. You longed for her touch to linger, for her to linger just a moment longer every time. Of course, right when she finally settled down in her chair situated between Hilda and you so that you could finally lean into her, the incubus reared its ugly head. Radio Ga Ga sounded throughout the entire tavern, setting the mood in the most ironically appropriate way possible. 

_Oh, poor Theo. The boy must be positively writhing with lust. You knew how that felt. All thanks to your Belle. She had your thighs rubbing together just by sitting near you._

Zelda stood up, eyes trained on the threat ahead. You moved to stand up along with her, but she stopped you, her hand pushing your shoulder down. She eyed you, worry creasing on her brows and stern expression on her face. She knew that if the incubus saw you, your life would be in danger. You watched, horrified as the demon was expelled and jumped from body to body. Your mind worked quickly, the gears grinding against the red wine in your system to churn out a solution. You reached down, grasping at Zelda’s dragonhide purse hidden below the reception table. You grasped its fine leather, digging through the luxurious interior to find a folding lookingglass. You ripped it out, sprung up from the table, and tore away from Zelda’s grasp to rush into the crowd below before the demon could latch into its next target. You shoved through the bodies, your heart pounding, and finally came to stand in front of the young warlock. _Poor Melvin. This was going to hurt._

He turned to you, viscous and angered at your close proximity. Something deep within shouted at you to turn away, but you stood your ground. You ripped open the ornate mirror, allowing it to catch the light of the stage and blind the eyes of the beast. It hissed, it’s glowing eyes wincing angrily at the luminous glare. 

“Aichmalotíste mésa se aftó to potíri, daímona tis amartías.” You hadn’t expected the Hellenic to roll off your tongue at all. It was a simple and very traditional spell to trap a demon within glass. Almost every witch knew the theory. However, the spell was normally spoken in English. 

_Capture lust within this glass, demon of sin._

The ease in which the incubus had been expelled from body to body was consistent, at least. It flew into the hand-held mirror like a beam, nothing more than a rattle as you snapped it close. All eyes were on you, but you hardly noticed. You felt a hand clap you in your shoulder. It was Ambrose. “Way to be on your toes, Hesper.” You turned to him, eyes wide, but your intense expression immediately crumpled into a proud grin when you saw his expression. 

You shuffled your way out of the crowd. If people were clapping or cheering or gawping, you didn’t notice. For the most part, you just hoped that everyone would carry on as normal. You made it to your seat and slumped back into your chair. You threw the mirror down onto the table with a clank, your eyes closing in mental exhaustion. 

_Hecate, why couldn’t things just go perfectly right for once?_

“That was my mother’s mirror.” You heard a harsh voice grumble from beside you. The music made it very difficult to make out her words. You cracked one eye open to be met with Zelda’s feeble glare. She took a deep sip of her wine, finishing it off. “And you just turned it into a prison for a sex demon.” 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I can find another trap for it…” 

She found your hand, but not before trailing the skin there with her nails. “No, actually, I find it quite fitting.” 

You snorted. Zelda’s relationship with her mother hadn’t been spectacular from what you could tell. Which was a shame, but she seemed to be quite alright with it. She explained that it had been a long time since. Her gray eyes locked on you like prey from over the top of her wine glass. It took you a moment, but you realized she was actually drinking _your_ wine, from _your_ glass. And her behavior demonstrated such, eyes glued to you, lips pressing delectably against where your lips touched all night. She drank in deeply, and when she swallowed, her tongue danced out to swipe the deep red stains off her lips. After a beat, she shifted, leaning close to you.

“Come outside for a smoke with me.” You swallowed, completely enchanted by her, and nodded at her whispered demand. Smoking was perfectly acceptable in the building, but it seemed Zelda wanted to get out somewhere more private. 

It was nippy outside. You knew your cheeks would turn pink at the brush of the breeze. The entrance to Dorian’s was hidden well from mortals, and if you didn’t know where to look you wouldn’t find it, even though it was practically hidden in plain sight. There wasn’t a soul to be found out there, with the exception of the pale moonlight. Zelda lit a cig aflame for herself. She took a drag from it before leaning against the stone wall behind her. She was propped up against it in a way that put her on display, and when she puffed the fumes out into the night air her chin rose to lengthen her neck just for your searching eyes. You waited patiently for her to light the untouched cig she handed you, which you figured she would do anyways. Instead, she had you step close to her, taking another drag into her sweet lips. She closed the distance between you two, her lips finding yours and parting just so that you could breath in the smoke from her. You wanted to lean into it, to pin her against the sturdy wall behind her and make her feel good in all sorts of ways, but you couldn’t. It was just a tease of her lips gracing yours, fumes sucking into you and forcing you to pull away just so that you could release the cloud into the dark air, lightness filling you. 

She released you immediately, lighting your cig between your bodies so that you could have a smoke with her. You couldn’t fight it, even if you wanted to. There would be hell to pay if you disrupted Zelda’s smoke break. She was in control whenever she had a cig between those blessed fingers. You took a drag, holding it in for a moment, and then releasing it with ease. 

“There’s only one thing worse than your plastered niece giving a speech on the wedding day, I suppose.” You spoke into the air. 

“Yes, a rampant incubus crashing the reception.” 

You frowned. Zelda’s tone was much less breezy than yours. “There’s always hiccups, Zelda. I’m sure Hilda is just happy it all worked out.” 

“Hilda didn’t want a big wedding to begin with. This was all my idea.” You could hear the remorse evident in her tone. You didn’t see much reason for Zelda to be kicking herself, it’s not like she could’ve controlled anything that happened tonight. If anything, the incubus issue had been your fault. And the reception was still going on perfectly well now. People were laughing and dancing and drinking just inside those doors. 

“Just you wait, one day we’ll look back on this all and laugh.” Zelda huffed, but you could tell a part of her was pleased by your lightness. “The night is still young, the party is still alive. There is still fun to be had.” You tried to be optimistic. It wasn’t abnormal for Zelda to be a stick in the mud, but at her own sister's wedding? She was doing fine earlier, teasing you, chatting, drinking. Maybe it wasn’t one thing that changed, but all the little things snowballing together for her. In which case, it was your job to put that to an end. 

“Fun? If anything, this night has only confirmed to me that weddings are truly pointless. And to think that I’ll have to officiate every single one for the rest of my life…” she groaned, eyes rolling back into her head. 

You shuffled uncomfortably, unsure of how to continue. “I thought you, um, _liked_ marriage and… well, weddings.” You didn’t exactly know how to phrase the statement. But, Zelda had always made her traditional values clear. If she was turning some sort of corner, you wanted to make sure it was for the right reasons. And if she was just venting some pent up emotions, you’d be sure to guide her through them. It was the least you could do.

She sighed, her hand coming up to massage her temple. “I did, when it was for my own personal gain and pleasure. But now…” she rolled her eyes up to the sky, the moonlight catching in her gray orbs. “... it all seems so feeble.”

You stood for a moment, thinking. Yes, maybe some parts of marriage were unnecessary, a construct even. Zelda had tried to use the patriarchal restrictions of marriage to her benefit, but in the end, she fell into its clutches anyways. It wasn’t until you came around and helped free her that she realized that there was, indeed, more to life than power and sex. And, in addition to that, she found that there was not more hideous scum than Faustus Blackwood on Hell or Earth. But, there were good things in marriage, too, you figured. Marriage for love as a public declaration, a commitment, although still unnecessary to some, did have it’s shining moments. Like today, Hilda and Doctor Cee were so happy with each other, and if they were lucky, they’d both live to grow old together. And despite the major calamities during the reception tonight, weddings were usually quite fun. Weddings are, in their base form, nothing more than a celebration of two people’s love. The issue you found with weddings in common practice was simply that people make too much of a fuss about them being perfect and special. And marriage, in your mind, was sometimes rushed or not officiated for the right reasons. 

Zelda was still staring up at the sky, hands drawn up to massage the frustration out of her brain. You gently gripped her hands in your own, stopping her movement, and took in her beautiful face. Slowly you brought her hands down between you to, and cradled them, allowing your long fingers to slip between her own. 

“Marriage _is_ feeble...” You assured her sternly. She looked abashed at your blunt proclamation, but you continued your point. “...but, that doesn’t mean it can’t mean quite a lot, right? You know, if the couple really thinks it means a lot, if there’s love between them, it can mean the world. In other cases, it just doesn’t, but not every case.” You finished softly. Zelda’s fingers gripped yours tightly as you finished. She began, to your utmost surprise, tearing up at your gentle words. You tutted, quietly telling her not to cry. ‘ _I’m not crying.’_ She began, but you already wiped the tear forming at the corner of her eye away. As you did so, you flashed her a knowing look, quirking an eyebrow. She scoffed, finally getting a grip on her flooding emotions.

“Are you going to be alright?” You asked her, your voice hushed. 

She huffed out a breath. “I’ll be perfectly fine, thank you.” 

You nodded in understanding. Zelda was so stubborn she hardly ever gave you a choice in matters such as this. When the conversation was over, it was over. And if Zelda said she was going to be fine, she was going to be fine. 

Zelda straightened herself up, and ran her hands down your shoulders. “Come on, let’s have some ‘ _fun.’”_

——————————

You eventually were able to drag Zelda onto the dance floor. If you were sober, you wouldn’t have ever dared to pull such a stunt, but you definitely weren’t sober. You’d been dancing with Ambrose for the duration of two or three songs when the band announced that it was finally time to shut the show down with one last slow song. You’d rushed over to Zelda, who was handling herself remarkably well after her little fitfull spell, and pulled her into the crowd of people before she could even protest, a playful smile on your lips. Once you were sure she couldn’t escape the sea of people with ease, you released her and offered your hand to the lady with a flourished curtsy. She didn’t refuse. She accepted your hand, pulling you close with an astute gaze and placed your hand on her hip, sliding her own arm to rest on your shoulder. 

The guitar chords had been building up steadily the entire time, but they finally took off with the other members of the ensemble. 

“I can’t even bring to imagine what banal song Hilda and her Beau picked to end the night on.” 

“By the sounds of it, none other than Ray LaMontagne— Hold you in my arms.” Zelda, it seemed, was not interested in leading the dance, so you began shuffling your feet squarely, careful to take big enough steps with your long legs so that she wouldn’t step on your toes. You’d long sense removed your heels, the cushioning charm doing little for your ancient disco skills. But, at least you could look into your witch’s pretty eyes with even more ease. She followed your movements perfectly even so. She was much more composed than you were with your loose movements. She was practiced at this, it was a shame you hadn’t dragged her out there with you earlier.   
  


_‘When you came to me_

_With your bad dreams and your fears_

_It was easy to see you'd been crying’_

Zelda scoffed, but she allowed her body to settle against yours. “Why am I not surprised? So unbelievably cheesy.” 

_‘Seems like everywhere you turn_

_Catastrophe it reigns_

_But who really profits from the dying?’_

You brought yourself out of the trance the lyrics sent you into. You had never really bothered to listen to them before, but with Zelda so close to you, they seemed to speak wonders. The right shitstorm you’d been through the last couple months, the emotional turmoil you experienced, it was all washing away at Ray’s words. You smiled coyly at her pessimistic bashing of the song, “I actually quite like cheesy. I might even call it a classic.” 

_‘I could hold you in my arms_

_I could hold you forever_

_And I could hold you in my arms_

_Oh I could hold you forever’_

She blinked, allowing herself to gather the deeper meaning of your words. _You were talking about her._ “Well, you do like classic, don’t you?” She ran her fingers down the bare skin of your neck, sending shivers down your spine. You hummed in response, your head leaning down to rest on her shoulder, swaying contentedly against her, allowing the beat to guide you. You felt like you were floating, light tingles at your fingertips and toes behind to prick at your skin. Hecate, you loved this. 

_‘Close my eyes and say_

_That love is a poor man's food_

_Don't prophesize’_

“I love classic.” You murmured, your lips brushing against her sweet neck. You allowed your eyelashes to flutter closed against the red strands of hair there. Yes, your steps had become more noticeably a sway, in fact, you were almost not moving at all, but Zelda didn’t seem to care. She let her cheek come to rest on your shoulder too, her hand and arm gripping your body more securely. 

‘ _So now we see how it is_

_This fist begets the spear_

_Weapons of war_

_Symptoms of madness’_

Yes, maybe there were a few eyes on you two. Zelda always got wayward glances as the Headmistress of the school and leader of the coven, and to see her so openly showing this level of affection to you may have surprised some of the guests who knew her. But alas, no one seemed to care enough to spend more than a second taking in the loving embrace. 

Maybe it was the booze talking, maybe it was the intoxicating feeling of Zelda against your body— a feeling that you wanted to feel for the rest of your life and then after— but a fog lifted. It was the fog that had been casting over every fleeting daydream about your future with this woman your whole life. It was the one that never really allowed you to see that maybe, just maybe, marriage to _her— ‘_ _Zelda’—_ wasn’t so out of the realm of possibility, after all. If someone had told you this was where you’d be in a hundred years, a hundred years ago, you wouldn’t have been surprised, you just never would’ve guessed it. 

You didn’t even bother to lift your head from the comforting alcove of Zelda’s neck before murmuring into her ear.

“I want to dance to this song with you at our wedding.”

_‘Don't let your eyes refuse to see_

_Don't let your ears refuse to hear.’_

Zelda lifted her cheek off your shoulder to take you in head on, surprise written plain on her expression. “ _Our wedding?”  
_

_‘You ain’t never going to shake_

_This sense of sadness_

_I could hold you in my arms.’_

“Yes, _Ma Belle,_ If you ever decide you want to.The idea has grown on me.” She eyed you, trying to decide if you were being serious or not. When she found that you were, she let out a small laugh, a light sparking in her eyes.

“Is this some sort of proposal?” She asked you carefully, but you could hear the lightness behind her words. You made sure she didn’t stop swaying to the rhythm, because she was teetering dangerously to completely ceasing all movement for this conversation. 

You shrugged a little. “It can be.” 

She scoffed, a smirking smile creeping to her lips. “You’re ridiculous.” 

‘ _I could hold on forever_

_And I could hold you in my arms_

_Oh I could hold on forever’_

“And yet, you love me.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all like it. Please let me know if you find any grammatical errors or have any suggestions. I do already have a lot written and a general idea of where the story is going, but we’ll see.  
> Send love and support,  
> Your Belle.


End file.
